GATE: And Thus The UNSC Fought And Died There
by Obsidianjake
Summary: Escaping Reach was easy, now having to deal with a world with magical girls, elves, fire dragons and an Empire that wants them gone can the UNSC forces survive? And can a certain Spartan-III get a certain priestess to stop humping his leg due to him being "Caked in blood." (Don't worry it's a mostly serious story...maybe...possibly...don't judge me)
1. Chapter 1: WE ARE LEAVING

_**Now you readers tell me if this is good now, because this is a story I've been deliberating doing for a long time, me and a friend just started throwing Ideas at one another one night and this came out of it.**_

 _ **Written with help from: Fireoftheawsome thank him for some of these ideas. If you are wondering what happened to Rise Of Reach. Well it is undergoing extensive rewriting and fleshing out for I feel in my heart that I can do better than that and I took it down so none of my readers had to experience such trash, I also felt the chapters were too short for such an extensive story in the Mass Effect universe. Anyways remember people please read and review I won't be writing more if you don't…...seriously I will hold this story hostage if you don't and I won't let you see it again if you don't pay the ransom. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. also I do believe we will be seeing a Spec ops: The line crossover with GATE if any of you are into that.**_

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 **Review responses go here**

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" **Thought's."**

"Speech."

" _GATE language."_

Noble six SPARTAN B312 aka Jason stood on the cliff, looking at the _Pillar of Autumn_ slowly disappear into the clouds. His shotgun slung over his shoulder as he watched Reach burn in front of him, the flames of the hundreds of fires burning in the field in front of him reflecting off of his grey visor as he watched.

" **This is the way the world end's huh."** Jason B312 thought to himself as he watched the Covenant burn the world, Jorge's dog tags still wrapped around his wrist as he slung his shot gun onto his back, the magnetic holster clicking it into place as he held his assault rifle in his right hand as he walked, glass and rubble crumbling under his boots as he walked. Explosions rocked through the surface of Reach as Jason walked up the metal stairs towards the top of the man made plateau.

" **Might as well head to the remains of Sword base, there might be something left there maybe a shuttle to get off this rock."** He thought to himself as he walked along, looking for a vehicle he could use to make it back to base. Most of what he found was either missing parts that he could not replace or was completely destroyed by covenant plasma fire, stepping over the bodies of dead marines and ODST's who had failed to make it to the _Pillar Of Autumn_ on time, they had fought to the bitter end which Jason could respect, they had fought like Spartan's refusing to give any ground until they were cut down by the covenant forces, they had given their lives to make sure the _Autumn_ made it off planet and further the cause of humanity.

finding an abandoned troop-transport warthog that had received only a bit of plasma fire from the covenant forces and reaching in Jason turned on the engine. Checking to see if it had died or not, his efforts were rewarded by the warthogs lights lighting up and the engine letting out a deep purr as the hydrogen engine powered the slightly damaged vehicle. Smiling a bit under his helmet Jason hoisted himself and his one ton armor up into the burnt out driver seat, he pressed down on the brake and pedal slightly to rev the engine slightly, the jerking forward slightly as it tried to take off into the wall in front of it, satisfied that the transport would not die out on him Jason backed up the vehicle before making his way onto the dirt road out of the shipyard, dust being kicked up by the vehicle's tires behind him as he drove down the ruined highway to the remnants of Sword base, the Warthog's suspension taking the force of the jumps as he made his way to the base. The Warthogs engine letting out a high pitch whine as it made its way down the desert road as in the background covenant ships blasted the landscape with high intensity plasma beams, effectively turning the surface to glass as the remains of the road seemed to crumble and crack under the weight as a thought entered Jason's head. He knew that many marines and civilians had not made it off planet, they would be leaderless and scrambling around for a way to get off this burning rock. ' **You could save them.'** A small voice in the back off his mind said as Jason visibly shook his head.

It would be a major breach of the UNSC command structure which was the doctrine that Jason had lived with almost his whole life and breaching it would most likely lead to a severe penalty or at the very worst a dishonorable discharge from the UNSC. Jason felt conflicted as he drove along the long empty road in front of him, the Warthogs suspension bouncing once again as he drove over a blast crater. His mind finally made up Jason reached down and turned on the Warthog's transmitter he began to broadcast a message on long range as he drove, picking it up as he pressed the button on the side of the device. "This is Spartan B312 to any and all remaining UNSC forces left on the planet Reach, I am taking command of the remaining forces left on planet, any remaining marines report to surface grid nineteen by twenty-two sector one authorization code Papa-Delta five five niner two, this message shall repeat."

Jason sat back in the Warthog as the message played over the radio, feeling satisfied as he heard marine squads radio back in the affirmative as he continued to drive along the highway towards sword base. Passing by burnt out Scorpion tanks, Warthogs and civilian vehicles as he made his way towards the ONI base, scattered weapons and dead bodies littered the landscape as he got closer, it was the remainders of the marines who tried to defend the base from the covenant before they took it over they had protected the ONI spooks as the evacuated the planet.

"HEY WAIT STOP!" Jason was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a voice yell at him, looking over in the direction of the voice as the warthog came to a screeching hault. He saw a squad of 5 ODST's waving their arms, their black armor contrasting with the burnt landscape, the trooper who had called was carrying an MA37 assault rifle as he walked towards the Spartan's Warthog.

"Was that your radio broadcast Lieutenant." Jason nodded as he looked at the lead ODST as he cut the engine to save the Warthog's fuel reserves as he looked over the squad at the side of the road "Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, Alpha-nine, we heard you over the radio and were heading to Sword base." The Gunnery Sergeant rambled on as he looked at Jason before slowly walking up to the Warthog as he took his helmet off. "Mind if we catch a ride Spartan?"

Jason nodded before pointing at the passenger seats of the Warthog "Mount up Gunnery Sergeant Buck we are getting out of here." Jason said as he pointed to the back seats of the warthog, the ODST nodded as he motioned for his squad to get in, they all seemed to groan as they leaned back on their seats as Jason turned the Warthog back on, revving the engine before speeding off down the highway again as the troopers began scanning their surroundings as they sped by the Warthog, looking for any hostiles that might try to pick them off before they reached the relative safety of the ONI base.

"Where's the rest of your squad lieutenant." Buck asked as he looked over at Jason, his assault rifle in his lap as he leaned back in the seat of the warthog, his helmet in his lap as he rubbed the top of his head his eyes sunken in as he looked into the distance, watching the light show of plasma.

"Dead Sergeant, I'm the last Spartan I know of on this planet." replied Jason as he kept his eyes locked on the road ahead, they were about 10 kilometers away from sword base. Jason pressed the warthog's peddle to the floor trying speed it up as the world burned around them, the sight of crumbling structures and burning hulks of frigates in the distance reminding the Spartan and ODST's that they were on borrowed time today as they sped towards their last hope of survival, the radio in the Warthog continuing the repeat Jason's message as marine squads continued to radio back.

"you're the only thing standing between the marines on this planet and a grizzly death, huh?" Dutch mumbled from the back as the tired squad caught their breath, the ODST setting his spartan laser down as he looked up at the sky, mumbling some sort of prayer as they sped along.

Running into a few Warthogs packed full of marines as they sped along the highway, soon they had a small convoy of four warthogs as they got closer and closer to ONI Sword base, the smoke caused by the explosive the ODST's used could be seen as they got closer and Jason could only hope that some of the base was still intact.

They reached sword and were met by a lot of dead elites and grunts as they entered it, the doors to the base turning green as they recognized the UNSC ID tags that were embedded in their bodies, the base was still burning in places as they drove into the still intact underground motor pool, Jason exiting his Warthog as the rest of the convoy joined them inside their makeshift bunker for the time being, locking the doors behind them but leaving the smaller doors unlocked for any marine squads that wished to join them Jason finally looked around he was greeted by by several squads of marines and even police officers that had managed to survive the invasion and make it here either on foot or by vehicle, they were a sad bunch all of them were covered in dust and most were wounded in some way. but all of them looked to the Spartan as he walked towards them a mixture of hope and determination to survive still deep in their eyes as those who could got up from what they were doing and saluted as he walked past, looking over the men he had assembled, a couple of them were gathered around a terminal trying to make it open the door to the base itself. He walked over to the console, the men letting him through as Jason entered his access code, the door beeped before unsealing the magnetic locks that held it in place.

"Welcome Noble six." the console said as the door opened in front of him, red emergency lights dotting the hallway in front of him.

"Good to see your still active DOT." Jason smiled under his visor as he walked into the base glad to see Noble teams dumb A.I. hadn't been purged by the ONI spooks just yet, His MA37 at the ready as he motioned for the marines to follow him before turning on his helmet spotlamp, the emergency lights of the base illuminating them in a red glow as they made their way through the remnants of sword base, only the heavy breathing of a few injured marines and the repetitive thumping of covenant glassing plasma beams could be heard as they made their way through the bases sub level tunnels, passing by several collapsed tunnels as they made their way to the backup command center of the base.

Jason held up his hand, halting the men in their tracks as they made it, to the door of the backup command center, entering his access code into the panel next to it Jason was happy to see the blast door begin to open for him, inside was a wreck panels were burnt and falling off, computers were cracked and smashed, bodies littered the ground as he stepped over the corpse of an ONI officer, the marines following close behind as they shined their flashlights every which way, checking for remaining covenant forces, moving towards the center of the room, Jason held out his palm on a slightly cracked screen. The generators in the lower portion of the base sparked with life as the lights that weren't damaged slowly flickered on, allowing the marines to see better as Jason turned around and looked over them.

Looking over the men Jason couldn't help but sigh, they only had about 10 understrength squads inside the base right now and the wounded would need to be moved inside for medical treatment. They were far from an effective fighting force and if they needed to push back an attack, they would lose unless they employed guerilla tactics. Still the base's comm system might still be operational and with that type of range they might be able to pull in and save more people. "Alright I want to split us into two groups, group alpha you are in charge of getting the comm system back online and getting our message to as many people still out there as possible, group bravo you are in charge of gathering as much supplies as well as guiding the wounded and newcomers inside, Tools, Food, Weapons anything is useful." Jason explained, slinging his rifle over his shoulder as he tapped the side of his helmet signaling DOT. "DOT give these marines access to anything they need."

"Of course noble six, be advised though the lower levels are controlled by another Smart A.I. so you will have to ask her to give you acesse." DOT said in his usual monotone voice.

"Very well DOT i'll deal with it." Jason sighed as he looked back to the marine's "Alright Gunnery Sergeant Buck, you are in charge until I get back but I want the Rookie and Mickey with me." Jason said as he motioned for the other two to follow him. "And get the cops in marine uniforms, they are officially drafted into the marines," Buck nodded to the spartan before leading the marine's to the comm room and armory of Sword Base.

The two ODST's that Jason had requested join him stood in front of him now, giving him a salute. Jason nodded as he motioned for them to follow, the two troopers taking out their M7 submachine guns as they took up Jason's rear. The Spartan uncoupled his MA37 from the magnetic holster on his back as they fire team made their way towards the elevator, the metal letting out a groan as Jason stepped in the Rookie and Mickey following close behind as he pressed the button for the bottom floor, the elevator protested before slowly lowering the three men down to the lower floor, the elevators doors grinding open as the two ODST's moved out of the elevator, turning on their VISIR's as Jason did the same.

They walked through the dark hallways of the Sword base Sub-level their feet crushing the broken glass and plastic that littered the floor, wires were hanging from the ceiling some of them sparking as they made their way through passing several scientists bodies as Jason made his way to his goal, checking each corner as they came up to a locked blast door, Jason enter his code into the panel but the door still refused to budge as they stood in front of it. Jason motioned for the Rookie and Mickey to cover him as he began to work on the console. "Unknown A.I. this is Spartan B312 please acknowledge." The two ODST's continued scanning the hallways behind them, their Su

"Unkown, I'm hurt you don't know me Noble Six." A female voice said with a giggle as a holographic image of a woman decked out in UNSC ODST scout armor, her hands on her hips as she looked up at the Spartan.

"You know it's rude to stare at a girl like that." The A.I. giggled lightly, her avatar lighting up as she smiled at him. "Name's Rose-144534 UNSC Smart A.I. and what do you required my knight in shining armor." Rose said with another giggle, smiling up at Jason as she winked at him.

"Rose, I need access to the lower levels and then i need you to transfer into a chip." Jason said in a serious tone as he looked at the A.I. slightly annoyed with her behaviour given their current situation.

"Ohhhhh serious guy, very well lower levels are unlocked for you and your marine's and the chip is in the slot of this console, yank me." she said with a smile as she stuck her virtual tongue out at Jason. before he took out her chip, reaching to the back of his helmet he inserted the A.I. data chip into his helmet. letting out a grunt as he tasted copper in his mouth as the A.I. accessed his neural interface, his HUD flickering red as his vitals peaked before returning to normal levels as the A.I. fully integrated with his suits systems.

"Hehe, you got a lot of stuff in here big guy maybe you should see someone." The spartan slapped the back of his helmet as she said that.

"Ok, ok shutting up now." she said with a giggle before going silent, leaving Jason feeling conflicted on whether he should allow her to access his interface or not. "Awwww now that's not fair." She pouted as her avatar showed up on his HUD.

Jason couldn't help but grin as he walked along, his face concealed by his helmet as he motioned for the other two to follow again. Jason and the two ODST's making their way through the lower levels of Sword base, towards his next goal.

" **It's got to be here somewhere I hope it didn't collapse."** Jason thought as he clutched his assault rifle in his hands, making sure to check his corners as he and the ODST's made their way through the base. Jason motion for them to stop as they came to a heavy door, with the words DOT core written on the top of the door.

Jason kicked the door twice, before slamming his entire weight into the door, the metal screeching as the door fell down. revealing a room filled with monitors and keyboards, most of them smash except for one lone core and a holotube.

"What is this place sir." Mickey asked as they walked through the room to the holotube at the end of room, the trooper visibly flinching as sparks went off close by.

"This is DOT, Noble teams A.I." Explained Jason as he began fiddling with the console, motioning for the two troopers to guard the door as he worked.

"So what are we doing here." Mickey asked again as he pointed his gun at the door, the room lighting up with more sparks as Jason continued working before being rewarded with a burst of life from the computer in front of them.

"We are making sure the covenant don't find her." Jason replied as he finished the download before yanking her chip out, clipping it to his dog tags as he took his MA37 off his back.

"Noble six." A voice came over Jason's helmet radio, recognizing the voice as Gunnery Sergeant Buck Jason tapped the side of his helmet as he replied. "Go ahead Gunnery Sergeant."

"You better come up here we got something on comms."

Jason motioned for the two ODST's to follow him back upstairs, the elevator letting out a few more groans as it took the weight of a spartan and two ODST's. Stepping out of the elevator Jason was met by Buck and two other marines, they saluted to him. "What's going on Sergeant." Jason asked as he motioned for them to be at ease, the two men resuming their duties as Buck stood in front of the Spartan his hands clasped behind his back as Mickey and the Rookie went off the help get the base operational.

"We got a distress signal over what remains of our comm net sir it's patchy as hell but you better hear it." Buck said as he lead Jason to the comm room, they passed by injured marines lying in the hallway, their injuries covered with bandages as they rested the base still shaking as the world above was glassed, they arrived at the comm room were two comm officers were working on the radio

The two men moved out of the way as Buck and Jason walked up to the radio "The signal is on channel, 56.89 it's the UNSC backup channel." Said Buck as he handed the radio mic to Jason, the Spartan took the small device and tuned the radio to the correct channel, the radio letting out some static but in the background one could here the small echo of a man's voice. "Let's clean this up." Jason said as the comm officers went to work fiddling with the device the message slowly but surely coming in with less static as they did their jobs, before moving out of the way as the message came in.

"This is Colonel Marcus Taylor to Noble Six, my platoon and I are hold up in a fallout shelter outside of New Alexandria, if you're hearing this we are in need of immediate assistance we have civilians with us." The transmission repeated as Jason put the radio down, the message repeating as a plan began to form in his head. "Anyone know the status of the city." Jason asked the marines in the room. "Completely destroyed sir, the covvies blasted it into sand in the first wave of glassing." said a marine sitting in the corner, his arm bandaged up as he looked at the Spartan.

"Gunnery Sergeant how many squads have shown up so far." Jason asked as he looked forward a plan slowly forming in his mind.

"About 12 sir, marines, some ODST's and a few police officers." The Gunnery Sergeant reported as he looked at the Spartan, his helmet held under his arm as he spoke.

"Any vehicles left." Jason asked as his plan became more and more clear in his mind's eye.

"4 Pelicans, 5 Falcons, 2 tanks and some warthogs sir." The Gunnery Sergeant replied as he set his helmet down. "Wait you're not thinking?"

Jason nodded.

Buck sighed before laughing half heartedly. "Well let it never be said that you Spartan aren't an insane bunch."

"Alright Gunnery Sergeant, I'm taking your squad and two pelicans, you're in charge while I'm gone, anyone else shows up you get them organized." Jason ordered as he walked out of the room the trooper giving him a mock salute as he sat down before adding "I'll contact you over the comm if we find anything else as Jason motioned for Mickey, Dutch, Romeo and the Rookie who had been waiting outside for orders to follow him as he made his way to the intact hangar bay, the soldiers following him silently as they walked past the bodies of the fallen soldiers who had died defending the base when it was first attacked, their bodies mangled from the attack the smell of plasma burnt flesh could still be smelled wafting through the air as they walked through the hall in silence the groans of the injured reminding them of why they needed to get off this planet. Jason put his hand on the door scanner to the hanger, the computer letting out an affirmative beep as the heavy doors opened to reveal the pelicans.

"Alright Mickey take that pelican, the Rookie, Romeo and Dutch will take a falcon and give us covering fire, I'll be in the second pelican." Jason ordered as he began walking towards his pelican, his boots crunching against the concrete floor of the hangar bay, jumping up into the pelican as the troopers made their way to their respective vehicles.

"Rules of engagement, Sir." Dutch asked as he jumped onto the falcons turret, pulling back the large machine guns bolt as he sat in the gunner seat. Romeo sitting in the other gunner seat as he chuckled. "You even need to ask Dutch."

"Keep the civilians out of harm's way and shoot anything not human." Jason responded ignoring the troopers comment as he entered the pelican, linking his comm with the ODST squad as he sat down in the pilot's chair. The pelican coughed a bit as it started up, the engine's letting out a groan as Jason brought it into a take off position, the hangar bays reinforced titanium A doors grinding open as sand began blasting into the large room.

"Sword Base tower this is Noble Six, ready for take off, over." Jason said as he waited for the affirmative from the marine in the hangars control tower, flipping the engines into the takeoff position as the ODST's did the same.

"Affirmative Noble Six, Happy hunting and bring our boys back sir." The tower officer replied as the take off light turned green.

"Let's give em some." Romeo yelled over the comms as the falcon lifted off beside the two pelicans.

Jason lifted the pelican off the ground as the hangar bay doors opened and he flew out of the base, Mickey was on his six with Dutch not far behind in the flacon. They flew low to the ground to avoid detection from covenant forces as Jason gunned the engines, the air around the pelican letting out a crack as it went super sonic.

"Mickey, you know the canyon near by." Jason asked over the comm as he banked his pelican towards the mountains as he slowed down, the vertical jets stabilized the craft before rocketing off towards the shortcut Jason was thinking about.

"Oddball canyon? Yeah I have heard of it, it's a deathtrap for pilots." Mickey replied, his tone turning a bit worried as he thought about what Jason seemed to be planning as the trooper continued to follow the Spartan, the falcon following close behind as they made their way to the canyon.

"You think you can make it through there corporal." Jason asked in a serious tone, making it clear that he was not joking as he continued to speed towards the canyon, looking down at Jorge's dog tags as he sped towards what could be his imminent demise.

"Y-yes sir." Mickey replied as he banked his pelican to follow Jason's, Dutch following them as they gunned it towards the canyon.

"Are you two insane, those rocks shred through armor." Dutch yelled over the comm, continuing to follow the two pelicans despite his objections.

"It's the only way we can make it in time before the covenant start glassing the rest of the planet." Jason said as he pushed his pelican to full throttle, the engines groaning in protest as the pelican shot forward towards the canyon's mouth, Jason had to react fast as they came to the first turn, jerking the controls to the left as the pelican skimmed the canyon walls, barely missing the razor sharp rock formations as Jason continued on at full throttle, jerking right as the ventral engines blasted the wall with heat preventing Jason from a sudden meeting with his maker as they continued onward through a straight away before making another sharp turn to the left as the canyon began to zigzag back and forth. The two pelicans banking hard at the next turn as the falcon followed them close behind, the three aircraft rocketing forwards as they tried to make it to the ruins of New Alexandria in time. The aircraft were groaning as they took turns they were not designed for, Jason's pelican was skimming along the canyon wall as they made their way through, having a few close calls as the troopers followed as close as they could. After hours of tight turns and near misses with rocks, the three aircraft came rocketing out of the canyon's mouth. Jason and the 4 other ODST's were greeted by a sight not many had ever seen or will see. New Alexandria was gone, from the smallest building to the largest tower the city was just gone, a smoking hulk of glass was all that remained of the capital city of Reach.

Jason couldn't help but look down at Jorge's dog tags again his friends home was burning before him and while he knew Jorge had not been born on Reach, he also knew the big man thought of the place as his one and only home and he gave everything to protect it, the regret filled his voice as Jason muttered. "I'm sorry Jorge." he pushed the feeling out of his head, focusing on the task at hand. they had to find that bunker.

"I don't think we are going to find them, sir." Romeo said over the comms, the sound of his voice hinting at his obvious shock at seeing the city gone as the trooper continued to scan the ground for covenant contacts.

"We are going to find them Romeo, the signal came from about 3 klicks north-east grid 11-18." Jason replied as he gunned his pelican to the source of the signal, the beeps from the tac-pad getting stronger as the approached the source of the signal, the glassed ruins of the once magnificent city passing by below them as they made their way towards the signal.

"Hey uhhhh Rose, how many people in New Alexandria alone?" Mickey asked as he stared as the glassed remains of the city.

The A.I. came over the comm as she responded, the usually joking tone to her voice was gone as she answered. "5.2 Million." The troopers stayed silent as they looked over the city.

"It's here." Jason said as he pulled his pelican in for a landing the engines kicking up a cloud of dust as Mickey landed beside his pelican, Jason killed the engine and walked out of the cockpit, through the blood tray and out the cargo door. "Alright squad, you stay here I'll check out the bunker." The ODST's nodded and spread out, securing the perimeter around the aircraft as Jason pulled his tac-pad off his hip, looking down at it as he pulled up the distress signal.

"Rose you there." Jason asked as he tapped the side of his helmet, but there was only silence as he stood there.

"Rose code 14553 acknowledge and respond." Jason sighed as he stood there, the ground crunching beneath the weight of his armor as he looked around, refusing to let his emotions

"Yes Noble Six what is it." The A.I. responded in a annoyed tone, the image of her standing and her arms crossed flashing in Jason's mind as he began walking.

"I need you to pinpoint the source of this signal." Jason said as he walked, MA37 rifle in his other hand.

"HA, child's play. Ok the entrance to the bunker should be about two meters forwards and 5 meters to your left." A blue diamond appeared on the military tablet as he began walking towards it. Glass crunching beneath his boots as he walks towards the point, stopping as he reaches the waypoint, before taking out his combat knife and stabbing the glass covered ground and was rewarded with the sound of metal hitting the knife blade. "Dutch, give me your shovel." The trooper walked over and handed his small standard issue shovel to the Spartan. Jason began to dig, and after around one foot he saw the hatch, setting down the shovel the Spartan slammed his fist into the hatch breaking through it with his augmented strength. The door hitting the concrete floor with a resounding clang as Jason began to go down the ladder inside. The bunker inside was a simple staircase with a blast door at the end, his rifle at the ready as he walked forwards entering his code into the pad on the door he grunted as the red light blinked, denying him access. Letting out another grunt Jason slammed his fist against the door, before reeling back and throwing his entire weight into a body slam against the door. the heavy metal began to give way as he slammed his weight against the door again and again. the door gave a heavy screech as it gave way under his armor, Jason let out a grunt as he fell with the door, landing on his shoulder.

His armor taking the impact Jason stood up fast only to be greeted by MA37 assault rifles and mounted machine guns pointed at his head by marines and police officers alike. "Stand down!." A voice yelled from behind the group of frightened marines. a tall man coming to the front of the group carrying a M6G pistol, his grey hair and hard expression standing out among the frightened marines and police officers, Jason knew this man was one to be respected if the scar that ran down the side of his face was anything to go by.

"Noble Six?" The man who Jason assumed was Colonel Miller asked as Jason nodded before continuing. "Colonel Miller, I understand you have taken personal command of the remaining UNSC forces on Reach."

"Yes, sir." Jason nodded.

"And you know that this is a major breach of the chain of command Spartan." The Colonel continued as Jason flinched, the movement was barely noticeable as Jason spoke again. "Yes sir I understand, but I am just trying to get as many as I can off this planet, so will you help me sir."

The Colonel seemed to chuckle as he looked back at his marines. "Don't worry kid, I ain't that attached to the doctrine, I won't get in your way." He said to Jason before speaking to his marines. "Alright Marines, we are leaving pack up as much as you can, weapons and ammo are going to be the key to our survival out there, any questions." The Colonel paused for a second before continuing, motioning at Jason as he spoke "This is Noble Six, he is our commanding officer now and you are to follow his orders to the letter. AM I UNDERSTOOD!" Miller yelled the last part of the sentence, getting a resounding "Yes sir!" from the marines assembled in front of them, Miller looked at Jason. "Please tell me you got a fast way out of here."

"Yes sir, I have a squad up top and some pelicans to take you and your men to sword base." Jason explained as he stood rock still, his MA37 assault rifle at his side.

"Dispense with the formalities lieutenant you're in charge here and as far as I'm concerned you would outrank me, so what's your plan?" Miller said as he motioned for the marines to stand down.

"Get the civilians into the pelican first and then the marines, then find a way off reach." Jason replied. "I have a few theories about where we can find a ship."

"Good plan." The Colonel replied as he turned to the marines and civilians. "I'm trusting you with my men Spartan, now don't let me down." Miller said before rubbing the top of his head.

"You take it from here noble." Miller said as he stepped into the line of marines, standing at attention in front of Jason as he looked over the marines and civilians, hope seemed to gleam for the first time in their eyes as they stood in front of him.

"Alright, I want 3 groups of civilians and two marines for each, the rest of you gather your equipment and load it onto the second pelican." Noble said as the marines nodded to him.

"Sir Yes, Sir." they all said as they began organizing the civilians into their separate groups, the other marines began packing up the machine guns and other heavy weapons for transport. The wounded marines who could no longer fight were grouped in with the civilians.

"We have about 50 civilians Noble, it's gonna be tight." Miller said as he approached the Spartan, his uniform in tatters from the weeks of combat they had gone through, as he hefted a M392 DMR on his shoulder with one hand as he spoke.

Jason nodded as they packed up shop, the civilians began to file out one group at a time to the pelicans as Jason helped the marines carry their heavy weapons. Loading the weapons into the pelicans compartments as the civilians packed themselves in tightly. Grunting as they loaded the last machine gun onto the pelican before shutting the compartment. "Ok marines get in, we are leaving."

The marines all nodded silently as they looked over the devastation of Reach some of them had tears in their eyes as they saw their home reduced to glass and ashes as Jason made his way to the pilot's seat as the last of the marines got in. "Everyone in." He called back as he prepared the pelican for takeoff.

"Yes sir." Replied Miller as he joined Jason in the Co-Pilots seat as they took off, leaving the burnt city behind them.

 **4 hours later….**

It had taken careful planning but they managed to reach Sword base without being detected, the hangar bay quickly closing behind them as the civilians got out and were lead by some marines to the intact barracks.

Gunnery Sergeant Buck was there to meet Jason as he got out of the pelican, Colonel Miller beside him as they stepped off the ramp, the pelicans engines slowly powering down as they did.

"Sir." Buck saluted them both as they walked into the base proper, most of the bodies had been cleaned up and groups of marines walked passed him as they walked towards the backup command center. Jason was impressed with their ability to focus on one task without breaking down, the marines seemed to have settled into a routine of trying to get the base operational and get as many as they can to the base, some of them were even attempting to clear out the rubble in some of the tunnels to make room in case more people showed up, though in the back of his mind Jason doubted they would be able to fill the base that much but he allowed them to continue, knowing that the tasks they did kept their hopes up.

"Gunnery Sergeant, how many have shown up." Asked Jason as he made his way passed the injured marines that had been lined up for triage in the hallway, medics were treating as many of the wounded as they could.

"About 400 or give or take. Marines, ODST's and Local Militia mostly with a local cop here or there." The Gunnery Sergeant replied as he walked with the Colonel "Some have been coming in on falcons, warthogs, pelicans and in scorpion tanks so we have some heavy armor should the covenant find us in our little haven here."

"Quite a motley bunch of soldiers Gunnery Sergeant, good work." the Colonel said with a slight smile as he walked with the two soldiers.

"Thank you sir, I assume you will be taking command of the marines here, Sir." The Gunnery Sergeant said as they stopped in front of the door to their makeshift meeting room, it was really just a mess hall with a projector screen.

"No Gunnery Sergeant, Noble Six is in charge here I'm just one of you now." The Colonel said with a small chuckle as they made their way into the room, The ODST nodding as he sat down on one of the benches.

"So what's our current situation Gunnery Sergeant." Jason asked as he sat down on the bench, the metal creaking under his weight a bit as he looked over the Gunnery Sergeant.

"Well sir, I did some digging and I found an underground shipyard, strictly kept off the books so it might have something left for us to take out of here." Gunnery Sergeant Buck said as he leaned back on the bench, the project showing images of the shipyard.

"Those are classified ONI files you are accessing Gunnery Sergeant." A female voice said as Rose appeared on the table in front of them, looking very cross as she stared at the Gunnery Sergeant.

"Calm down Rose, Those files may save our life." Jason said as he "picked" her up in his hands, the A.I. looking at him angrily as she crossed her arms.

"The Man is right Rose, we need to get out of here no matter the cost." Miller said as he looked at the A.I. in Jason's hand.

"I could have you all thrown into the brig for what you're doing here Colonel, you are letting insurgents into a classified ONI base and accessing our files, when we get back to UNSC space ONI will have your jobs." The A.I. replied with venom in her voice as she pointed a finger at Miller.

"THAT'S ENOUGH ROSE!" Jason yelled as he slammed his fist into the table, leaving a large

dent that caused the A.I. to flinch a little.

"This is war and protocol be damned we are getting off this planet with every human soul we have." Jason said in a stern voice as he looked down at the A.I. even through his visor she could feel his eyes burning into her.

"We are all humans here Rose, protocol doesn't matter when so many lives are hanging on this information, we all need to work together to get through this." Miller said in a calm voice as the A.I. looked at him.

The A.I. nodded and disappeared from sight, leaving Jason, Miller and Buck alone to begin working out a plan.

"Ok we can't get the civilians to the ships, that's out of the question." Miller said as he looked at the distance between Sword Base and the Hidden shipyard, stroking his stubble as he thought to himself.

Jason began to form a plan in his head. "So what if we bring the ships to the civilian's, have them hide in the lower levels and we will have Rose and DOT pilot them back here, it will attract a lot of attention so we will need to move quickly and go into slipspace in orbit."

"Slipspace in orbit, isn't that dangerous." Buck said as he looked at the map in front of them, studying it closely as the building shook again, dust falling from the ceiling as the planet's tectonic plates rocked from the glassing.

"Only if the planet was inhabited, now we don't have to worry." Miller said as they felt the building shake again, the screams from the civilians coming down the hallway.

"If we are going to do this we better do it now, the covenant won't wait while we sit on our asses." Miller said as he stood up.

Jason nodded as he got up as well. "I'll go myself, DOT and Rose can pilot any ships we may find there." he said as he cocked his rifle.

Miller nodded."Buck and I will get everything ready and orientate any stragglers we find."

Jason nodded. "Get it done Miller."

Jason made his way out of the room, staggering slightly as the base was rocked by another quake and he couldn't help but thank ONI for making the sublevels of Sword base out of titanium A, walking towards the motorpool, Jason heard the screams of the civilians again as they were overwhelmed by their world collapsing around them, Several marines passed by Jason, each of them focused on gathering any materials they could find from the rest of the base.

Jason opened the door to the motorpool, finding two marines talking by a warthog as he walked towards them. "You know I still don't see why we have to call it a fucking warthog." Complained one marine as he leaned against the vehicle. "I mean it looks more like a big cat right."

The second marine looked annoyed as he spoke to the other man. "I said shut the fuck up griff and help me get this gear ready, the Colonel just said we are packing up shop."

"ehhh but still, I mean it looks like a cat to….." the marine never got to finish his sentence as Jason got into the vehicle, starting up the warthog rocketing out of the garage as he left one confused marine on the floor. Jason let out a grunt as it landed on the ground the motor pool doors closing behind him and sealing, speeding out of the Base and towards the Shipyards coordinates.

"well fuck, the sarge is going to be pissed, that one was his favorite." Said the marine who was still standing as he watched the warthog disappear.

 **12 hours later - ONI Shipyard Alpha Base.**

Jason crawled forward on his belly, MA37 assault rifle in hand as he surveyed the entrance to the shipyard, watching for any covenant that could have found the entrance.

"Rose, any data on the shipyard." Jason asked as he looked through his built in bino's, the sounds of a plasma glassing beam could be heard in the background as he watched the entrance for a few more minutes, a layer of dust forming over his armor as he watched for movement.

"Negative Noble Six, Any other data on the shipyard was destroyed." The A.I. replied as Jason slowly began to crawl to the entrance, standing up only when he knew it was clear as he boots crunched against the rocks and sand on the ground before pressing his hand against the door console, he felt Rose move through his neural interface accessing the console and then a second later the door opened as an alarm sounded, seconds later to reveal guns.

"Not this again, mother fucker." Muttered Jason as he looked at the ONI marines in front of him. their weapons aimed at his head.

"Get in here Spartan, You have a lot of explaining to do." A female voice said from behind the marines. the source of the voice coming forward Jason was shocked to say the least.

"Dr. Halsey." He said in a neutral voice as he walked into the shipyard, the door closing behind him, the ONI marines still pointing their weapons at him as the Dr. stared at him.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing Spartan, accessing Classified ONI files and how the hell did you find this base." Halsey said as she stared at him with cold eyes and when he refused to answer she continued. "Did you atleast get the package to the _Autumn_?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Jason replied as he stared back at the Doctor unmoving as he let his eyes bore into her, he knew it would be a war of words and he did not want to kill the marines, but if they forced his hand he would respond with deadly force.

"Well, at least there is some good news." Halsey said, her voice softening a bit as she motion for the marines to stand down, the men lowered their weapons as Jason did with his but he kept his rifle clasped in his right hand.

"If you don't mind Ma'am I have soldiers hold up in the remains of sword base and civilians and I'm getting them out of here." Jason said as he began moving towards the hangar door. Halsey stepped in front of him before he could make it though looking at him coldly as she spoke. "you will do no such thing Spartan, their lives do not matter what matters is getting back to UNSC space now."

"I'm sorry ma'am but I have people counting on me and these ships are the only transport left on Reach." Jason said as he stepped past the Doctor opening the door and slowly stepping inside.

"Stop right there spartan, this is a direct order do not move." Halsey yelled as she motioned for the marines to get ready to fire on him. "You don't think I heard your little transmission, you are in direct violation of UNSC protocol soldier." She said as she crossed her arms.

Jason sighed as he looked back at the Doctor "It's the end of the world Ma'am protocol or not I'm getting my people out of here now are you and your marines coming or not."

Halsey looked at him coldly, her eyes staring into his as he stared back before she finally relented. "Jorge rubbed off on you it seems, whether that is good or bad I guess time will tell…...very well Noble six take the ships and save your "people" but you will get no protection from me when HIGHCOM finds out about this ." She said coldly nodding to the marines as they stood down again. "Follow him marines, I'll go get Jun." she said as she walked off into the base.

Jason smiled as he heard that name, happy to hear at least someone from Noble team was still alive. motioning for the marines to follow Jason walked into the hangar bay. "Alright what do we have here." Jason muttered as he looked over the three frigates in front of him one was a Charon-class light frigate named the _Freelancer_ she wouldn't be good in a stand up fight, but she would be able to fit the most people on board, the other was a Paris-class heavy frigate named _Grafton_ she would fair much better in a stand up fight and would be good if they needed to keep the covenant ships off the _Freelancer_ and the last frigate was a Stalwart-class light frigate named _Spirit Of Dusk_ she would be good for fitting any extra supplies that they couldn't pack on the _Freelancer_ all in all Jason had to admit their luck had changed for the better for the first time in a few weeks.

"Noble six, do you copy over." Came a voice over the comm.

"I'm here Sergeant Buck."

"Please tell me you found something, sir." The Gunnery Sergeant replied his voice shaking slightly, hoping for good news.

"I found three ships Gunnery Sergeant, I want you ready as soon as I get there."

"Yes sir, I'll get the men organized." Replied the Gunnery Sergeant before cutting the comm link.

Walking towards the ships Six spoke again this time to the Smart A.I. is his helmet "Can you fly these things Rose." He asked the A.I. as he walked to the first frigate the loaded ramp extending as the marines began loading equipment onto the frigates, using forklifts and trucks to load what they couldn't carry themselves.

"Affirmative Noble, I should be able to handle two of them and I believe my counterpart will be able to fly the other." she said as she flashed an image of her grinning into Jason's head as he clasped DOT's A.I. Chip in his hand.

Jason couldn't help but smile as he and the marines made their way into the frigates. "alright men, this is a rescue opp." Jason explained as he stood on the loading ramp to the _Freelancer_ , his rifle in hand as the marines assembled saluted before they split up into three teams per ship, Jason handed DOT's A.I. chip the the sergeant in charge of the _Dusk_.

"Plug her in when you get on, she'll fly the ship for you." Jason explained to the confused marine, who nodded and made his way towards the _Grafton_.

Jason and the other marines began to work fast, loading the Frigates with ammo and any weapons and vehicles they could find. It would be a tight fit with the marines in sword base and the civvies but Jason was sure they could all make it off this rock in one piece. They were soon joined by Dr. Halsey and Jun, the second surviving member of Noble team smiled at Jason and saluted him. before going to help Hasely get situated on the ship. The ammo for the point defense guns were loaded to the maximum, they were carrying as many vehicles as they could find and crates were stacked high in both the cargo holds of the _Spirit Of Dusk_ and the _Grafton_. There was an air of urgency amongst the marines as they worked on loading the frigates, many of them had the look of hard determination on their faces, Jason smirked a bit knowing that they would need that determination and courage for the next part of his plan to get them off Reach, he walked towards the bridge, passing by more than a few marines coming from one of the ships many small storage areas as they went back out into the hangar bay for more supplies, they seemed to be taking anything and everything that wasn't bolted to the ground as they rushed to beat time itself. A few of them were carrying medical crates, while others stacked the ships armories high with weapons and ammo, the galley was overstocked with food and what couldn't fit in their was put into the storage area, most of the military rations were dried anyway so there was no chance of it going bad anytime soon, slowly but surely making his way to the frigates bridge Jason was happy to see a few marines working on the terminals, prepping the _Freelancer_ for take off as Jason reached to the back of his helmet, pulling the A.I. chip out of his neural interface before plugging it into the holotube beside him, the frigate rocked a bit as hatches were closed, hangar bay doors were sealed and cargo bay doors were locked behind their blast doors. Jason couldn't help but smile as he took off his helmet, revealing his blue eyes, pale face and black hair to the world as he sat down in the Captains chair, his fingers sinking into the hard leather as he leaned back surprised it was able to take his weight as the other two frigates prepared for lift off.

"all stations report ready Noble six." Rose said as the last hatch closed smiling at the spartan from her holotube. Her avatar glowing bright as the ship's engines started up, letting out a deep hum as the nuclear fusion reactors were brought to life, the hangar bay doors grinding open as the dust from the newly created dester was let inside, coating the frigates in a lay of sand as they began final take off procedures.

"The is _Grafton_ reporting all green and the _Dusk_ is also reporting all systems ready." Rose said as she clasped her virtual hands behind her back. "You look good in the Captain's chair Noble." She said with a giggle as the frigate began to take off, shaking the dust from it's grey hull as the fusion engines pushed her forward.

Jason grunted as they took off, pressing the comm button on the chair. "All hands prepare for slipspace." He said as the ship's drive began spinning up, opening a portal in front of them the three ships entered it as fast as they could, the _Freelancer_ went first, the _Grafton_ was second and the _Dusk_ was last as the portal closed behind the three ships, sending out an EMP burst that covered more than a few kilometers of glassed land in hawking radiation, the covenant would take notice of the slipspace rupture, they would need to act fast now because the hiding was over. Jason felt the ship lurch forward, holding onto his seat as the frigate appeared above Sword base he almost swore he heard the marines letting out cheers on the ground through the armored hull as they watched their hopes appear from the portal over the ONI base. Marines were waving their arms up at them as the _Freelancer_ and _Dusk_ landed on the deserted strip of land outside of Sword base, it was a race against the clock now.

"Rose, tell the _Grafton_ to stay in the air and provide cover fire incase any covenant decide to show up." Jason ordered as he got up from his chair, sealing his helmet to the rest of his armor.

"Yes sir."

"Alright people let's move, we got a bunch of civilians that need to get on board ASAP as well as supplies, I want this done before the covenant notice what's going on here, now move it!" Jason ordered.

"Yes sir." The marines said before getting to work at a frantic pace, this would all be over if they were discovered before they could get everyone on.

Jason made his way outside as the marines worked, his boots thumping against the floor as he made his way outside of the _Freelancer_ and into the winds of Reach as he walked down the loading ramp, passing by frightened civilians as their marine guards led them onto the frigate, some of them looked close to tears as for the first time in the weeks since Reach was attacked they had a glimmer of hope for survival. Many of them began thanking Jason as he walked past them and he replied with. "It's my duty." Before stepping off the ramp, the whine of pelican engines and the repetitive thumping of falcon engines could be heard over the wind as the marines loaded all that they had scavenged onto the Frigates, Jason was even surprised to see two longsword fighter craft appear from Sword base and land in the _Dusk's_ hangar bays, a few pelicans flew upwards towards the _Grafton_ as she circled around the base, landing in the Paris-class frigates hangar bays as the marines on the ground continued to load the ground vehicles into the Charon and Stalwart-class frigates.

Jason spotted Buck directing civilian traffic with another marine, walking over to him. The sound of his boots against the ground alerting the Gunnery Sergeant to his presence. "How many have made it Sergeant?"

Buck sighed. "around 4, 000 civilians and 8,500 marines, more than I had hoped for but less than I wanted." Buck sighed again. "It just feels like we are leaving more people behind."

"It can't be help Gunnery Sergeant, the covenant could be on top of us any minute, we need to leave as soon as everyone is onboard."

Buck nodded before saluting. "Yes sir." 

Jason continued to watch as the marines guided the civilians to the ships, the wind picking up as the glassing of the planet continued, it would take the covenant weeks to cover the whole planet in glass, maybe more but when they were done Sword base and any structure still left standing would be wiped out in an instant. Watching as the small hangar bay doors of the _Freelancer_ finally sealed on both sides of the ship, it was stocked to the brim with pelicans and longsword fighters as many as she could carry as the last of the warthogs were loaded on, the cargo elevator finally retracting upwards before locking in place, he spotted Colonel Miller helping the marines load the last of the ammo into the _Dusk_ the man nodded at him with a grin letting him know he did a good job silently before continuing his work as the last of the civvies boarded.

"We have finished loading all the civilians, equipment and supplies Noble six." Rose said over the comm as he looked over the remains of Sword base, before turning and heading up the loading ramp with the remaining marines.

"All systems green Noble six, we are at the maximum weight for a vessel of this size to break atmo." Rose reported as the last of the marines joined them on the ship with Jason the exit sealing behind them as the proximity alarm suddenly went off.

"Rose get us out of here!" Jason yelled over the comm as what he feared would happen slowly approached them.

"Noble six, incoming Covenant Corvette may I recommend an immediate slipspace jump." DOT said in her usual monotone voice as the ship's alarm blared throughout the hallways as Jason began sprinting towards the bridge at full speed.

"Roger that DOT see if you can keep us covered with the _Grafton_ , Punch it rose." Jason ordered as he ran, the ship's nuclear fusion engines powering up one more time as the _Freelancer_ began her take off sequence, the frigate slowly lifting off the ground as the engines fired up the _Dusk_ was not far behind.

"Get us into slipspace Rose, DOT follow us in." Jason ordered, they had just alerted every covenant fighter in the area to their presence, they needed to leave Reach now if they didn't then all of them would die and then all they had done would be for nothing, the ship moved forward through the atmosphere towards the black and blue portal that was opening up in front of it.

"Destination Noble six." Rose asked as the slipspace portal fully opened in front of the three frigates as they entered, the _Freelancer_ going in first as the other two followed close behind, the _Grafton's_ 50mm point defense guns pouring ammo into the corvette as they made their escape.

"Anywhere but here, jump blind." Jason ordered his voice turning a bit frantic as the proximity alarms began to blare, the engines blasting them forward as the ship began to enter the portal in front of them, they were so close to escaping now.

"Come on, Come on." He muttered as he finally made it to the bridge, taking a seat in the Captains's chair as they were halfway in the portal.

"Roger that Noble, Executing jump in 5….4….3...2..1, jump." The world turned white for Jason as the _Freelancer_ , _Grafton_ and _Dusk_ entered the portal, narrowly avoiding the plasma torpedo's the covenant ships had launched.

 **So good bad, you decide. Also anyone here notice in Halo: CE the longsword are god damn huge.**


	2. Chapter 2: Settling In

**His eyes burned as they opened up wide, the sounds of screams echoed through the air as he slowly got up, Jason felt his armor systems slowly activate and the faint sense of cold water running along his body as the neural interface in the back of his head linked with his armor, he heard the cries slowly get louder as he got up, looking around he spotted an MA37 assault rifle, grabbing the rifle by the grip as he slowly got on his feet an explosion rocking the earth under him as he heard the distinct sound of covenant plasma fire from a plasma rifle.**

 **Jason ran towards the sound of covenant fire and the terrified cries of civilians, his weapon firmly planted in his hands as his shields flared to life as he ran through the crumbling streets of the burning city, thick black smoke wafting around his body was thankfully filtered by his armor as he ran towards the fight, spotting a covenant elite Jason immediately unleashed a hail of bullets into the unsuspecting enemy, emptying his magazine until the elite fell to the ground dead, its body riddled with bullet holes as blood dripped over its armor. Jason reloaded, slamming another magazine into the MA37 before turning around and spotting a group of grunts harassing some marines protecting a civilian transport, aiming at the group he let loose another short burst of fire at the grunts, hitting each one in the head with unrivaled precision, he heard a low growl near him as he looked around for the source, Jason spotted a shimmer of an elite in active camo and the sound of a plasma grenade being primed. Diving out of the way Jason saw a glowing blue orb stick to the wall behind him before exploding in a shower of superheated plasma, the grenade demolishing the concrete wall with ease as Jason held his MA37 in one hand as he landed on the ground firing at the elite as he shields flared from the impact as the shell casings from the MA37 hit the ground as the hardened bullets pierced through the elite's shields and into its skull, killing him almost instantly as Jason got back up.**

 **He heard the cry of the child as he gutted another elite with his combat knife the purple blood and gore coating the titanium blade as he heard the cries get louder, Jason began running towards the sound as he heard the sound of spike rifle fire and the growl of a brute as he ran as fast as he could, his augmented speed pushing him faster than any human being could hope to achieve on their own, dust was kicked up by his boots as he ran faster and faster firing his MA37 as he passed by covenant troops before stopping at an intersection and listening for the sound.**

 **With his augmented hearing Jason heard a low whimper coming from a bomb out building, holding his weapon tight Jason ran towards the wall the whimpers were coming from, he slammed his body against the wall his shields flaring and breaking as he burst through the concrete as he hit the ground Jason spotted a young boy cowering in fear as the brute lifted his gravity hammer intending to kill the boy as Jason got to his feet, rushing the brute as as he fired his MA37 at the brute, the monsters crude shields breaking after a few seconds of fire, the ape went into a rage as he faced Jason his hammer grasped in both hands as the Spartan tried to fire again only to be met with a click. He heard the chieftain chuckle with a low growl as he rushed Jason his hammer held over his head as he charged. Jason dove out of the way as the child ran to the safety of a nearby vent as Jason got back up, dropping his rifle as he unsheathed his knife before running at the brute knife at the ready as he slammed his body into the brute the knife blade sheathing itself into the brutes abdomen as he delivered a massive punch to the Spartans ribs. Jason grunted as he felt the blow connect with his ribs, his shields mitigating some of the force but not all of it as Jason grabbed the brutes hammer and began to try to wrench in from his grip, the hammer staying as stiff as a board for a second before falling from the injured chieftains hands as Jason delivered another knife strike. The two combatants falling over top of one another as Jason reached for the discarded gravity hammer, intending to end this with a final blow as the brute groaned in pain, but he the monster was not out of the fight yet as he got off Jason and held both his fists tight as he intended to strike at the Spartans helmet.**

 **At the last second Jason grabbed the gravity hammer, his suit integrating the weapon into its systems as Jason hefted the hammer from his laying down position as best he could, before delivering the final blow against the brute, the hammers full power on display as it connect with the brutes armor, cracking through the shield and plating as the bladed end embedded itself in the brute's chest, blood spurting from the gaping hole around the blade as the brute let out one last gasp before collapsing under the weight of the hammer, his eyes draining of life.**

 **Jason slowly got up, his armor covered in purplish blue blood as he looked around for the child, the alarms and screams of civilians echoing through the evacuating city as falcons and pelicans flew overhead. Jason spotted the child in his vent, a cut adorning the side of his face as he crawled backwards afraid of the Spartan.**

 **Jason shook his head as he got on one knee near the vent, holding out a hand as the child began to cry softly, shaking in his vent as he tried to move backwards. Jason sighed before taking off his helmet and looking down at the child, his scarred face and pale blue eyes looking down at the child as he finished crying, before looking at the Spartans face curiously, cautiously moving forward from his vent as Jason kept his gloved hand held out.**

 **Jason was getting tired of this and as the child inched forward before finally coming within his reach, he grabbed the child his superhuman speed allowing him to catch the child as he let out a hoarse whimper, holding him under his arm as he took his M6G out of the magnetic holster as he began to run, his boots thumping against the concrete street as he ran out the hole he made in the wall towards the evacuation area. He had to be fast or else the transports would leave without them, his weapon at the ready as he carried the screaming child in one arm as he burst through the covenant lines, his shields flaring as they redirected their plasma fire at him. Protecting the child with his armor Jason aimed his M6G at the aliens before firing at the covenant lines, he heard an elite yell as he made his way towards the UNSC lines, a pelican was waiting for them as the marines holding the line spotted Jason running towards them with the covenant hot on his heels, the marines began to give the Spartan covering fire as he made the final push towards the evacuation area as the child let out another scream. Jason ran onboard the waiting pelican, pushing the child into one of the seats as he turned around and fired the last rounds of the M6G's clip into the covenant lines as he backed onto the dropship himself, the pelicans engines letting out a low whine as it began to take off, the dirt and grass around the ship flowing like water as the hot air from the ship's engines hit the ground taking them to the UNSC evacuation in orbit around the planet as Jason turned around and looked at the child. "What's your name kid?" Jason asked as he took a seat near the pelicans airlock, unclasping his helmet again as he looked at the child, the kid looking tired and frightened as he looked up at the Spartan-III before speaking.**

" **W-who are you?" The child asked in his shaking voice as he looked up at the Spartan a small amount of blood running down the side of his face from a cut he had received from Jason's armor.**

" **I'm a Spartan." Jason answered in his gruff voice as he set down his rifle, the the metal of the MA37 clanging against the ground as he leaned back in his chair, the world fading to black around him as he felt his armor disappear from his body, the child was no longer sitting in front of him and the pelican seemed to be slowly evaporating from sight as Jason looked around, his mind panicking slightly as he looked around for any sign of life around him, but he found nothing.**

" **So why do you want to become a Spartan Jason." A voice echoed through the darkness as Jason looked around for the source of the voice, but he was unable to find it in the pitch black. "Is it because of your family." The voice said as it seemed to come closer and closer to him, almost breathing down his neck as he kept looking around for the source.**

" **I want revenge on the aliens that killed them." He said almost instantly and without thinking about it, the sound of venom evident in his voice as he looked up at whoever was talking to him.**

" **That is good, keep that revenge close to your heart Jason it will help you in your trails ahead." Said the voice as it slowly began to fade away.**

 **-Dream end-**

Jason groaned as he woke, his head was pounding and his eye's were filled with a blinding light as he got up from whatever he was laying on, blinking his eyes as he woke up and noticed his armor had been stripped off. All he had on was his body suit that he wore under his armor as he pulled off the medical devices that were monitoring his vitals, before walking out of the medical room and through the hallways. a few marines saluting as he passed by, he felt naked in the hallways without his armor on he had spent the last part of his childhood after his family died inside that armor, it had almost become his second skin he wore it so much, without it on he felt like he could be shot at any moment and he would not be able to react fast enough to respond to it.

He kept on making his way towards the bridge in his body suit the black skin tight outfit standing out amongst the marines that past him as he continued towards his destinations a few of the female marines giving the Spartan odd looks as he walked past them before arrive at the heavy pressure door that lead to the bridge, the sliding pressure door opened after he entered his code into the keypad, before walking onto the small cramped bridge it was bustling with activity as the marines they had rescued off Reach monitored the ships equipment as well as the space around their small fleet. He looked around and spotted Dr. Halsey speaking with Rose the doctor seemed to have a slight smirk on her face which slightly unnerved Jason as he began walking towards the two woman, the woman rarely smiled and when she did you knew she was planning something, she turned to face him as Rose alerted her to his presence, wiping her grin from her face as she took the neutral facial expression she wore around all the Spartan III's trying and failing to hide her disdain for those she did not create herself. "Dr. Halsey." Jason said as he looked at the creator of the Spartans and even though he towered over her, she did not flinch or back down as she spoke.

Halsey turned around to face Jason as he walked up to her, roses red avatar flickering in annoyance as he interrupted their conversation but she held her tongue as Halsey gave her a look, standing at his full height in front of the doctor as he looked down at her. "Ahh Noble Six we were just talking about you." Jason raised an eyebrow as she spoke. **"Why would she be talking about me with Rose."** he thought.

"Whats going on doctor?" Jason asked me refusing to be annoyed by the mocking tone Halsey addressed him with.

"Being one of ONI's senior staff I have many freedoms, assigned to me in case of emergency in the field." She said as the Spartan in front of her stayed silent and still as a rock, his arms clasped behind his back.

"One of which is promoting people, in the field when no other option presents itself to me." Halsey said as she leaned back against the bridge wall, looking out one of the reinforced glass windows of the bridge, into the empty space beyond.

"Congratulations spartan, you are now the admiral of our tin pot army." Halsey said with a chuckle not bothering to look at the Spartan as she handed him some officers bars, the golden metal giving off an obvious shine as he looked at them. Jason just blinked not knowing how to respond as he looked at the doctor, his fists clenched as he wondered what she was playing at before taking the bars into his hand, feeling the cold metal weigh in his palm as he looked down at them the weight of the bars seemed to double as he realized the implications of the command Halsey had just thrust upon the Spartan.

"Don't think I am being kind to you by doing this Spartan, you got us into this mess now it is your job to get us out of it, I will help you were I can but this is your mess still you clean it up." Halsey said in a stern voice like she was talking to a child, grating on Jason's nerves as he looked down at her with his ice blue eyes, before nodding he would be able to get a lot more done here if he was on Halsey's good side, but still if she caused trouble he would send her to the brig.

"Thank you Ma'am, I understand." Jason said as he nodded before walking to the captain's chair taking a seat as he watched the marines in front of him work away on their consoles, leaning back as he looked at the doctor. "So where are we doctor Halsey?" Jason asked as the doctor walked up next to the chair, leaning on the rail behind him.

She smirked again, before taking a tac-pad off of her belt pressing a few buttons before handing the military tablet to Jason as he looked down at it. "That Spartan, is the million dollar question you had Rose jump us blind but even then she would need to use UNSC coordinates to jump, but none of the stars here match up with the most up the date UNSC star charts, but what we do know is that our blind jump lead us to a planet." She said as Jason scrolled down to the report of the planet. "As far as we know from the sensor scans we have taken, It's a garden world, a lush vegetation near the equator and it gets more temperate the closer you get to the poles." Jason nodded before handing the tac-pad back.

"Any covenant forces follow us here?" the Spartan asked as he handed the report back, if the covenant fleet that had glassed Reach managed to find them in this safe haven then it would be all over for the remains of the UNSC forces, there was no way three frigates could go up against a fleet of covenant in a stand up fight.

"Negative Noble Six, the covenant have not been seen since we jumped away and even if they were searching for us it would take them a while to find out where we are." Rose answered as she appeared on the holotube beside him, crossing her arms over her armor's chest plate as she smiled at him. "Good to see you up big guy, how did you sleep?"

"Fine, but what were you saying about it being difficult to find us Rose." Jason asked as he looked over at the A.I. with his regular stone cold expression, as Rose gave him a mocking pout as she looked at him, moving her hands to her hips before continuing. "As I was saying, they wouldn't be able to find us here because of this." She said as an image of a large nebula appeared. "This is where we are currently, judging from the scouting reports from the _Grafton_ and the limited amount of sensor data we were able to unscramble, we are located in this nebula which seems to emit some sort of EM field that has messed with our sensors, so we have been relegated to using the _Grafton_ and her fighters to scout the system for the past two days and as far as we can tell we are alone here."

"Is there any way we can make it back to UNSC controlled space?" he asked as he looked around the bridge at the marines busy manning their stations as they worked away at their consoles.

"None that I can see so far, unless we can find a star chart which I doubt we would this deep in unexplored space, our only option would be to stay here, activate our beacon and pray that someone here's us, which I doubt anyone will for many, many years and with the interference from the EM field they will likely not hear our signal at all." Halsey explained in a hushed tone as not to alert the marines on the bridge to their situation just yet.

"So we are stuck here." Jason replied as he looked out as the sun broke over the horizon of the planet below them, it was a magnificent sight of blinding colors that made him squint for a second as the ship's windows adjusted the light so they would not go blind from looking at it, the sun's rays reflecting off of the surface of the planet produced the most magnificent colors as some of the bridge crew stopped and stared at it.

"To answer your question, yes we are stuck here for now, so my suggestion, your first order of business as our new admiral should be to update the men on our situation and then use this planet as a staging area for activities in this unknown space, the civilians could also use a place to stretch their legs while we figure out how to get back." Jason knew the civilians would not be able to stay in such cramped corners for such a long period of time, Halsey was right and he had to admit it while they would not tell the civilian population the whole truth, they would have to explain half the reason why they were staying here for an extended period of time, that would keep them calm at least for now. **"Who knows they might enjoy not being hunted by the covenant at every turn for a while, but still we need to get back to UNSC controlled space ASAP."**

Jason nodded his mind now made up as he leaned back in his chair, the soft leather making him feel relaxed as he "Alright take us in for a landing and makeup some reason to tell the crew why we have to stay here until we find a way home, send a team out to set up a forward operating base and begin laying out the lines for civilian housing and tell the _Grafton_ and _Spirit Of Dusk_ to stay in orbit and keep an eye out for any sign of covenant forces, even if we are technically hidden from them we don't want to be caught with our pants down." Jason said, the A.I. nodding as she relayed Jason's orders to the rest of the crew, The frigate engines letting out a low hum as it began to descend into the atmosphere, the outside armor of the frigate heating up as it broke through the upper atmosphere of the planet, if one looked from the surface the ship looked like a massive asteroid coming to hit the planet, the heat from reentry masking its size as it made its way down to the surface, a pelican holding the recon team and a warthog troop carrier Rose had assigned to scout the area around the _Freelancer's_ landing zone as the Charon-class frigate came in for her final descent to the planet, the ship's landing struts extending out of its armored hull to sink into the mossy ground of the land below, the ship's engines letting out a low whine as they powered down.

As the ship finished powering down Rose appeared next to Jason again "Admiral if you wish for some more suitable attire the captain's quarters has some officers uniforms that might be able to fit you." Rose said with a snicker as she looked over Jason, the Spartan flinching slightly as he thinks of the prospect of taking his armor off, Spartans practically lived in their MJOLNIR armor rarely taking it off with the exceptions of maintenance and medical needs, it was like a second skin for both the II's and even the III's and Jason did not relish taking it off, even amongst UNSC personnel, even now in his body suit he felt uncomfortable amongst the crew it was almost as if he could feel their eyes staring at him as he sat in the chair.

"Thank you for the information Rose." Jason said as he stood up and began making his way to the captain's quarters of the ship, the door sliding open as he stepped inside of the large quarters. The room was rather spartan in terms of decoration like all UNSC captains quarters, a small desk was pushed into the corner of the gun metal grey room, a small terminal and a tablet sitting on it that filtered reports in from the crews of the _Freelancer, Grafton_ and _Spirit Of Dusk_. A bed sat on the opposite side of the large quarters with a freshly pressed officers uniform on the bed and an arms locker at the foot of the bed frame, walking over to it Jason pressed the open button and was satisfied as he heard the arms locker unlock for him, slowly opening it he found an M6G sidearm in the locker, as well as his weapons all neatly placed in their respective holders with their triggers locked and ammo unloaded. Satisfied Jason took the M6G out of the locker and placed it on the uniform, it was customary for officers to carry their sidearms everywhere, it was as much for decoration as self defense and Jason wanted to be as prepared as he could be outside of his armor.

Stripping off his body suit as he stepped into the small shower, turning the faucet as the water began to pour from the shower head, you could smell the purifying chemicals that the _Freelancer_ used to recycle all the water that was used on the ship. They wouldn't run out anytime soon and that was good, water and food were essentials that needed to be found as soon as possible, turning off the water Jason slowly stepped out of the shower.

Now clean as the day he had first stepped foot on reach, Jason walked to the bed and picked the uniform off of the bed, slowly sliding it on as he felt the soft fabric cling against his skin as he strapped a holster to the side of his hip, taking the M6G into his hand and sliding it into the decorative holster. His augmented body made the uniform feel a bit tight against his body as he felt it slowly stretch to fit his form. But he shook off the small feeling as he walked out of the room the door sliding shut behind him as he stepped into the hallway, he began walking through the metal hallways of the ship. He had several things in mind as he walked through the hallways of the ship, making his way past a few marines as he walked.

Making his way to one of the small hangar bays of the ship he passed through the metal pressure door of the hangar bay as he stepped inside. inside there were many civilians gathered, there were women, children and men all trying to get over the shock of seeing their home planet glassed by the covenant forces, some of the marines were trying to help them get over the shock as they guarded them, helping to keep any disagreements among the civilians from causing a riot in the crowd. Some cries of anguish could be heard amongst the crowd as the pressure of the last few days built up to a point where it had to be released, they were civilians after all, they knew nothing of the horrors of war and to have it thrust in their faces like that had to be overwhelming for them all, the marines and Spartans were trained to handle such things and as human covenant war raged on seeing a glassed planet had become the norm amongst the UNSC forces. He knew if the covenant were to show up now, every one of these marines would fight tooth and nail to protect the civilians from danger and they would go down with a hell of a fight he could see it in there eyes as they went about their duties of herding the civilians out of the way of the equipment and repairing the pelicans that hung from racks on the ceiling. He had to disagree with Halsey on appointing him the Admiral of the three ships they managed to save, he was no leader he was a Spartan made to fight for humanity and nothing more.

"They will be looking to you for leadership in the years to come Noble Six." A female voice said behind him, he turned to face its owner.

"I'm no leader Dr. Halsey, just a Spartan." Jason said in a soft voice as he turned back to the civilians, leaning on the metal railing for support. "And I don't plan on having us stay here for years doctor."

"And what if we can't make it back Noble, are you ready to accept that we may never see UNSC space again." Halsey muttered as she looked at the newly appointed admiral.

Jason sighed for a second, he had not considered it a possibility until Halsey brought it up, if they were that far from UNSC space then that meant they would never live to see their home again and for all they knew they were the last sole survivors of a dying race. "If it comes to that doctor, then we will see what happens, but I don't think I can lead these people through that I am a killing machine nothing more."

"Ah, then you have forgotten what I meant for the Spartans to be when I first created them, you are to be humanities sword and shield but also our leaders, guiding us to our new future." Halsey replied with a smug expression as she lean back on the wall behind him, arms crossed as she spoke coldly. "Even your Spartan-III's use my original design, meaning you are as much my children as the II's, you are just my bastard children who need the extra push to take your place as leaders."

"I was supposed to die on Reach ma'am." He said solemnly as he looked out over at a squad of marines repairing a warthog, the hangar bay doors slowly opening as the air from the planet began to filter into the hangar bay another pelican slowly taking off as the deck chiefs began to relayed the orders that he had given Rose, he could just barely hear them shouting orders as another pelican lifted off from its rack with a scorpion tank mounted to its magnetic vehicle hook as it made its way outside the ship.

"Spartans never die Noble six, they are just missing in action, think about what I said because soon I believe your resolve will be put to the test and if you falter the last survivors of Reach die with you." Halsey said as she walked off, her shoes clacking against the floor as she passed through the pressure door and began to head towards the ships built in lab for what Jason did not know, but right now he did not care he just stood there for a good ten minutes watching the marines work away at repairing the vehicles and ships they could, keeping their hands busy as others began leading the civilian volunteers out of the hangar bay and onto the planet's surface to begin construction of temporary housing as another pelican took off as they began unloading what supplies and heavy lifting equipment. It would take them quite a while to set up enough housing for the civilians to live comfortably, they would also probably need to set up training for any civilian volunteers to bolster the ranks of the marines in case the covenant found them, all of this was going through his head as he watched the activity throughout the hangar bay crates were being stacked and ammo was being stored in the proper holds and quarter masters were finishing taking stock of the supply situation as Jason stood there deep in thought.

"Sir, sir?" A voice penetrated his thoughts as he looked to his right, a female marine saluting before holding out a tac-pad for him.

"Reports for you sir." The marine saluted again as Jason took the tac-pad, looking down at the information on the device, it was the quarter masters final reports from all three ships and it didn't fill him with much hope.

Food/Medical Supplies: 2 years worth

Warthogs: 300

Pelican Dropships: 189

Falcons: 230

Scorpion Tanks: 145

Mongoose: 304

Sabers: 89

Longswords: 57

Assorted Small Arms: 10,100

Heavy Weapons: 1, 000

Marines: 9,234

Civilians: 4, 908

Jason nodded as he looked over the numbers, if what Rose said was accurate then they would need to start training the civilians sometime soon if they wanted to keep the proper amount of numbers to defend themselves from attack, the local militia they had picked up could help if they were willing, they would need to use guerilla tactics. But if they met any contacts they would be slowly bleeding out in terms of manpower and in terms of the long term survivability of what could be the last of humanity they wouldn't last long without careful planning.

letting out a soft sigh as the amount of problems they had began to build up in his head, their slipspace drives were still operational but UNSC space could have been millions of light years away for all they knew and Jason knew they could not store enough food to make the long journey, nor did they have enough cryo pods for even half the people to survive in. Jason kept reading the reports as the walked along the catwalk, turning into the first corridor his mind occupied with the different problems they had being stranded on this planet. they could hunt and gather so food was fine as long as the planet's flora and fauna was edible, but medical supplies would be a problem as they did not have the necessary equipment to manufacture and synthesize the needed chemicals for their medical supplies, that meant if they didn't find a way soon they would be patching people up with gauze and bandages just like the old days of warfare before humanity made it into space.

"Rose how much heavy lifting equipment do we have on both ships." Jason asked as he read over the data again, his brow wrinkled as he kept on reading through the reports, the headache he had when he woke up had returned in full force as he waited for the A.I. to respond.

"We have a a couple dozen forklifts, a few trucks and two mining drills." Replied the A.I. as she appeared on the datapad in front of him, as if she was trying to startle him with the appearance of her avatar but she seemed to scoff slightly when he didn't react.

"How long do you think it will take to build housing for the civilian population on the ship's." Jason asked as he put the datapad down.

"give or take about a month and a half sir." The A.I. replied as she crossed her arms. "You aren't thinking of staying here are you?" She asked annoyed as she looked at Jason, he arms crossed over the chest plate of her scout armor as he avatar flaring slightly as Jason braced himself for a verbal slap on the face. "Halsey can't be trusted admiral, she manipulates and deceives to meet her own ends, by painting them as humanity's best interests and you will pay for trusting her."

Jason sighed slightly "I know Rose, but we have no choice." He replied as he looked down at the tac-pad "We currently have no way of getting to UNSC space and the covenant are no doubt hunting any survivors of Reach who didn't make it to Earth, so until we find a way to make it safely back to UNSC space we will need to give the civilians at least some of the comforts of home and keep them settled until we find a solution." He said as he walked along, his new leather boots letting out a slight squeak as he did.

"You know if we are found there is no chance of us getting out alive with just three frigates and two squadrons of sabers and longswords."

"I know, I know." Muttered Jason as he leaned against a crate sitting in the hallway, his mind going over how they could best defend their small area of space.

"Rose where is Gunnery Sergeant Buck." he asked as he stood back up on his feet as he began walking again, his feet thumping against the metal as he heard the thunk of the cargo elevator being extended to the surface below.

"Captain Edward Buck is located in the armory sir." The A.I. Responded as Jason began making his way there, passing by the armory as he heard the groans and gasps of the injured marines and civilians that they had managed to save from the surface of Reach as the medics and doctors oversaw their treatment, administering pain killers when needed and flash cloning limbs that needed replacing as they worked on the injured and comforted the dying.

 **Armory of the UNSC Frigate** _ **Freelancer**_

Jason sighed as he saw the ODST stand up fast and salute as he noticed the bars that adorned the pristine white uniform Jason wore, he still hadn't gotten used to the marines and other officers on the ship looking up to him as a leader. On Reach he was a ground trooper and even when he took command of the remaining forces on the planet he didn't need to think about tactics and the big picture all he needed to focus on was the here and now because if he hadn't they wouldn't have survived as long as they did, but as a leader he needed to constantly think ahead and plan for every possibility that could occur, since they were in unknown space that list nearly quadrupled. **"First day of being a leader and I'm already complaining."** Jason chuckled as he motioned for the Sergeant to be at ease, the ODST slowly relaxing as he nodded at the newly appointed admiral.

"What do you need sir?" The Sergeant asked as Jason stood in front of him his arms crossed over his chest as he nodded at the ODST.

"Hello Gunnery Sergeant Buck, I have been needing to speak to you." Jason said as he looked at the ODST, the bags under his eyes were very pronounced as he stood in front of the spartan, the size difference between the two men could be obviously seen as Buck looked up at Jason.

"Yes Sir, What do you need." Buck said as he stood upright at attention, his arms at his sides as he stood as straight as a board.

"The Paris-class Frigate Grafton Sergeant, She is in need of a captain and from what I saw on Reach I think you are the one she need's." Jason said as he looked down at the ODST, shock forming on the man's face as he digested what Jason just said.

"If I may speak freely sir." The ODST asked as he began to relax, sitting back down on the bench.

"Go ahead Captain." Jason nodded as he leaned against the weapon lockers, his face remaining neutral as he listened to the Captain.

"I'm just a ground trooper sir, I belong with my squad so I think you got the wrong guy I like being on the ground and in the fight, a space battle is just pulling a trigger and forgetting about it I want to be in the fight." Buck said apologetically.

"Sergeant, If I was wrong about you I wouldn't be asking you, you proved yourself on Reach by taking charge and keeping people in line and I need someone I trust looking over our temporary home." Jason said as he looked at the trooper, standing back up straight as he spoke. "Think about it Sergeant, then get back to me." He said before leaving the ODST to think over the new promotion he was just offered.

Making his way through the ship Jason managed to find the maintenance section of the ship without running into too many people, sparks and the hissing of welders echoed through the small maintenance area as the mechanics worked on maintaining and repairing marine armor and weapons. "Sir, What do you need." The technician asked as he saluted, the grease covering his hands making a slight mark on his forehead, not that it mattered becauses the man's face looked to be caked in the stuff as he breathed heavily.

"I was told my armor was being repaired, I came here to see it for myself." Jason said as the technician stood at ease, his muscles relaxing as he grinned at Jason.

"Yes sir, Dr. Halsey was here just a few hours ago making some adjustments to it." the tech said as he unlocked the door "I tell you that woman is a perfectionist every modification I made had to be checked and triple checked by her before it could be implemented and then once they were they had to be tested to make sure they worked." The man complained as he walked into the room dedicated for Spartan armor repair, Jason following him through the door as he saw just what he meant by adjustments.

The armor had been completely repainted, the brown replace with a charcoal black finish and a silver visor with an ODST helmet to replace his damaged one, the admiral bars had been painted onto his chest plate in bright golden yellow to represent his rank even when the armor was on. each bullet hole had been mended, every dent was gone it was like the armor was brand new, it looked like the first time he put it on as a child in the Spartan program, freshly made and ready for action but all the history he had with it had been wiped away. Shrugging the thought off Jason shook his head, the armor was a tool nothing more it was no use getting too attached to it. But still Spartans rarely left their armor and their neural interfaces basically made the armor feel like a second skin, a part of the Spartan's body and mind, to have it changed like this without his permission was unnerving to say the least, had it not been Halsey he would have beaten the person to a bloody pulp for messing with his armor, but he relaxed for now.

Staring at the armor as he walked around it, inspecting it for any missed bullet holes or plasma burns but he found none, but he kept looking making sure that the tech had not missed anything or changed the position of any of the plating. "It will be ready by tomorrow sir." The technician said as he stood near the door, watching Jason inspect his armor with the care of a man and his antique car. Satisfied Jason nodded to the technician, before making his way out of the maintenance area. "Rose take care of things I'm going outside." Jason said as he made his way through the many corridors and hatches inside of the _Freelancer_ making his way to the loading ramp and slowly stepping out of the _Freelancer_ , into the atmosphere of the new planet they now inhabited, he could hear the chirping of strange birds as he felt the air course through the fabric and caress his body, with a warm embrace he had to admit he could get used to the peaceful nature that this planet seemed to have so far.

The light blinded him for a second as he made his way down the ramp, holding one hand over his forehead to block out the sun as he walked down the ramp as he looked around, the planet was heavily forested the trees almost looked like the ones back on Reach. Jason let out a deep breath as he felt the ground beneath his feet, he could see the marines working away at building housing for the Civilians, several chopped down trees were already stripped of their bark as the marines and civilian volunteers began working on setting up the housing, a few had chainsaws and the others were carrying axes chopping away at the thick tree trunks.

He spotted a sea of tents on the other side of the large clearing the _Freelancer_ had landed in, he spotted Colonel Miller coordinating with the marines and civilians who volunteered for the job, the older man was smiling slightly as he directed a group of civilians and their marine guards to the other side of the clearing, before looking back down at a crudely drawn piece of paper. Jason began making his way to the sea of tents as he walked past many civilians who were having a well deserved break laying in the sun, letting the heat from the star cook their sore muscles and bones as they finally relaxed after days of being on the run. A warthog passed by Jason as he continued on his walk, the vehicle making its way along a path into the forest as the marines began their scouting pattern.

As he approached the command tent Colonel Miller noticed Jason and spotted the bars on his uniform, he grinned at the Spartan as he crossed his arms his scarred and battered face looked tired even as he smiled at Jason before speaking. "Well Admiral, welcome back to the land of the living, eh?" Jason nodded as he looked around, various crates of equipment both opened and sealed littered their forward operating base as the marines set up the monitoring and communication equipment they needed to keep in contact with their recon teams.

The Colonel laughed as he slapped the Spartan on the back. "Halsey got ya out of that suit, but she can't get you to talk more can she." Miller chuckled as he looked around.

"Well, I've been whipping these marines back into shape, two days with nothing to do has made many of them bored."

Jason nodded again. "Good job Colonel, any more problems to report."

Miller shrugged. "No sir, other than the occasional scuffle between tired marines we haven't had any problems, people seem to be more focused on getting their minds off fighting rather than looking for one."

Jason nodded and gave the man a salute which Miller returned in kind before heading back to his work of coordinating the civilian housing and recon efforts as Jason walked away, observing the progress taking shape in front of him as he let a small smile appear on his face, barely noticeable but if one looked hard enough they could see the small muscles in his mouth twitch as he watched the men and women under his command work like a well oiled machine.

Jason had to say he was impressed with the Marines efficiency after days of fighting doing something that didn't involve running for their lives was a weight off one's shoulders, or so the Spartan thought, truth be told he had never really been away from the fight for too long to consider it, no he never truly got a break from the fighting there was always a covenant commander that needed killing or a front that needed to be secured while they evacuated a planet, but now that he was here away from the war even if it had been a short while he couldn't help but feel a sense of peace wash over his body, his muscles relaxing as he listened to the sounds of the forest and the work of the marines. Nodding to the marines he passed as they saluted, he walked through their makeshift camp his boots crunching against the gravel and sticks that littered the ground as another pelican flew overhead, heading to a makeshift strip of land that was being cleared out to act as an airstrip for the dropships and falcons as he made his way to a large hill near by walking slowly as he saw the sun above him, it looked like it was late afternoon at least as he stared at the large forest that stood in front of him. The sound of birds and animals mixing with the sound of cursing and heavy machinery as the Marines worked away at clearing out the forest, the whine of a warthogs engine as a scout team returned from surveying the surrounding area, the marines disembarking from their vehicle as they chatted amongst themselves. Jason couldn't help but smile as he watched the world in front of him, his muscles slowly relaxing again as he sat down on the mossy ground, looking up at the sky as three falcons flew overhead on their patrol as Jason sat on the hill relaxing as he watched the activity from a far, more civilians funneling off the ship as they settled in on their temporary home.

" **Maybe Jorge has rubbed off on me."** He thought with a chuckle as he watched the world around him, his eyes feeling heavy from the weeks of fighting without rest. the adrenaline slowly wearing off as he felt his mind slowly slip into unconsciousness his last thought being.

" **Maybe this is our new start."** he thought before falling asleep, the dream he had earlier still in the back of his mind as he held his hands behind his head, the wind blowing through his hair as he heard a pelican fly overhead, a large crate attached to the magnetic hook on the back of the dropship as the pilot maneuvered the ship with skill and precision of a well trained veteran.

He heard sergeants yelling orders at marines volunteers and civilians as they directed them through the process of building temporary housing, the sound of more falcons their rotor blades cutting through the wind as they flew overhead, patrolling the airspace above them and mapping the region for the deep recon teams was a almost relaxing sound for Jason as he watched the new sun slowly begin to dip downwards as it became late afternoon. Then he heard a roar.


	3. Chapter 3: Fire Dragon Attacks

**Come on guys you need to review or else you will have Rory Mercury coming to your house….wait shit you'd probably like that nevermind…..carry on and please review or no chapter for you. Also hell guys you must be starved for a Halo/GATE crossover judging by the views. For those who know my work I have reused the first two chapters of this because I felt it fit the story, I am very picky with my writing and with the other stories I tried to write I didn't feel invested also because me and fireoftheawsome wrote this chapter together.**

 **To answer one person's question, yes I reused it but It didn't feel right to me at the time because many people had used it before and this intro was written by me and fireoftheawsome.**

Unknown Space - Unknown Time - _Spirit Of Fire_

A large ship floated through space, her engines barely powered as she drifted along past planets and stars. An Obvious scar could be seen on her hull as she drifted along through the stars and if one had the right equipment a highly degraded message could be heard. "T-t-this is UNSC…... _Spirit Of Fire_ , we have…...Slipspace drive…...covenant….if any UNSC forces are hearing this, we are in distress and need assistance."

The long range sensors let out a ping as it sent out a long range broadcast throughout the nearby systems, waiting for a message that seemed to never come. Until now, suddenly a ping was heard back as a UNSC transponder appeared on the sensors, alerting the ship's systems to wake up the ship's A.I. as it locked onto the transponder and began to plot a course towards it.

Serina began to wake from standby mode as the ship's systems alerted her to the presence of another UNSC ship, she brought up the sensors data sifting through it as she looked for any discrepancies that may be signs of a trap. A sense of hope seemed to form in her data streams as she looked over the data again and again just to make sure, before finally deciding that it was accurate, her light blue avatar glowing as the ship around her began to power up for the first time in years, the dormant fusion reactor letting out a hum as the secondary reactor began to power down, lights flickered and turned on as the cryo bay deep inside the ship began the process of quick thawing the crew of the ship as Serina looked out the thick glass windows near her holotube, she couldn't see really but the ship's sensors allowed her a form of sight out into the abyss as she "watched" the stars pass by them. "Captain I found something." She muttered to herself as the ship finished it's power up sequence, the engines now at full power as it began to push its way slowly towards the weak signal of the UNSC transponder, what the sensors didn't notice as the ship pushed towards the signal is a small ship hiding behind a moon, watching the ship.

Captain James Cutter

James Cutter fell to the floor as he came out of his cryo tube, his head felt like it had been through a meat grinder as he slowly got up, his black body suit standing out amongst the gun metal grey of the ships cryo bay as he puked out another load of fluids that had been in his stomach before he went into cryo sleep slowly beginning to regret going into the tube in the first place as he slowly began to try to get up before being hit by another fit of nausea as he hit the ground again his stomach wrenching as it had no more fluids to give , he had to concentrate to keep from throwing up on the deck as he looked around, he saw the other cryo tubes around him. Filled with the rest of the crew as they slept in the dreamless sleep of cryo. "Good morning captain Cutter." A familiar voice said to James as he spotted Serina standing on the holotube near the exit of the large cryo bay, her blue avatar glowing as she gave him a smile.

"What's going on Serina are we being rescued." Cutter asked as he rubbed the back of his head, his fingers passing over the neural interface imbedded in the back of his skull, the cool metal of the interface feeling out of place on his warm skin as he walked up to the holotube.

"Negative captain, but I found something you should see, if you could meet me on the bridge I can show you." The Smart A.I. said before disappearing from the holotube, leaving Cutter alone as he leaned against the cold titanium wall of the cryo bay, it felt as if his strength had been sapped from his body after so long in cryo his body felt stiff and weak as he pushed off the wall and began walking out of the cryo bay, leaning against the door as he typed his security code into the control panel, his muscles slowly getting used to being back in action as he walked slowly through the deserted metal hallways of the _Spirit Of Fire_. Cutter leaned against the metal wall of the hallway as he took another deep breath, breathing in the filtered air of the ship's life support system as he slowly began walking again, making his way towards his quarters. Finally making it to his quarters Cutter stripped the body suit off of himself, the rubber material peeling away as he pulled open his closet door and pulled out his uniform, still looking freshly pressed as he put it on for the first time after years of being in cryo.

"I wonder how much time has passed?" Thought Cutter as he finished buttoning up his shirt, stepping out of his quarters before closing the door behind him as he made his way to the bridge, his walking speed slowly increasing as his muscles got used to carrying his body weight again. Rubbing his chin as he passed through the bridge door Cutter suddenly felt like he was back home after a long vacation, everything was just as they left it as he walked along the bridge towards the holotube next to the communications console, were Serina was waiting with a smile on her face. "Hello Captain, nice to finally see you up." she said as she clasped her virtual hands behind her back.

"Serina, what's going on?" Cutter asked as he looked down at the A.I. as she pulled up a radio signal on the console in front of him, looking at it closely Cutter recognized the signal almost instantly, it was a UNSC long range transponder, a device which allowed Admirals to track ship movements throughout their sector and predict covenant movements based upon were the transponders began going dark.

"Can you confirm it?" Cutter asked as he looked at the transmission.

"Yes Captain, it appears to be from a UNSC prowler, they appear to be holding position near some object that isn't in our data banks, but I don't recognize the registration number, though based on how long you were in cryo for, I can safely say that it may be a newer addition to the fleet." Serina said as she clasped her virtual hands behind her back, watching as the Captain studied the transmission for himself before nodding. "How far away are we?"

"about point 5 light years give or take, it could take a while to reach them." Serina responded with a grim tone of voice as she looked over the transmission again as well.

Cutter shook his head. "That will take to long, we might as well go back into cryo sleep and wait for the _Spirit Of Fire_ to drift back into UNSC space." Looking back at the console Cutter thought for a minute before an idea popped into his head, grabbing the thought he began working away at the console as Serina watched him.

"Serina, try to boost our transponder signal and reroute the distress beacon through the transponders transmitter, if we can get that to work then maybe we can reach the prowler before they leave the system they are in."

Serina closed her eyes as her avatar flickered for a split second before returning to normal, opening her eyes as she nodded. "It's done captain, I have the message focused in a tight beam towards the source of the transponder signal, all we can do now is hope our message in a bottle reaches them."

Cutter nodded, he knew in the back of his head that it was a long shot that anyone would hear them, the signal would degrade over time and unless someone was actively scanning for signals it would most likely be missed and disregarded by the comm officer as background noise in space. It was like sending a message in a bottle in an ocean full of bottle eating sharks, stepping away from the console Cutter made his way to his chair, sitting down on the hard leather as he leaned back. "How long was I in cryo Serina?"

"About Twenty years, five months, two minutes and fifty four seconds captain, but I can narrow that down the milliseconds if you need me too." She said with a chuckle as she looked up at the old captain as he stretched his arms for the first time in years, letting his old aching bones before lean back again in his chair, allowing the military leather to get used to his body sitting in it again after such a long time of disuse.

"Serina, wake up the rest of the crew and get them up to speed, I want us as close as possible to that object and that prowler ASAP." Cutter ordered as his facial expression hardened, the A.I. nodding as her avatar blinked out of existence.

The cryo bay alarms began blaring as the tubes entered quick thaw mode, quickly as they could the tubes began to thaw out their occupants as fast as possible without killing them when they restarted their vital organ functions, injecting them with stimulants and other restorative chemicals as the ice slowly thawed from their bodies, the _Spirit Of Fire_ would soon be bustling with activity once again, it would take them about a week and a half to three weeks to get to the signal but hopefully it would give them something to work with.

 **Admiral Jason "Spartan-B312." Noble Six**

Jason took his sidearm out from his holster out as he saw the massive red beast land in the forest the beast letting out a roar as it smashed and crushed tree's beneath it's massive body frightening many of the civilians who were not shocked by the sight as the marines in the camp began to shout and train their weapons on the beast, the creature letting out a massive roar as it looked down at the stunned UNSC forces below it. Jason heard the echo of a fifty caliber warthog gun begin to fire as the beast let out a mighty roar, the bullets seemed to bounce off of the red scales of the creature as the marines coming back from recon fired their weapons, those who had been working on living quarters for the civilians and military personnel scrambled as the beast let out another roar. "Scatter!" Yelled colonel Miller over the comm as Jason watched him pick up a MA37 and begin firing at the beast. But this only seemed to anger it as it took fire from one of the pelicans that happened to be in the air when it appeared. The nose gun of the gun ship letting out a controlled burst of seventy millimeter rounds that impacted on the scales of the creature as it took to the air. Jason let out a few rounds from his sidearm the rounds embedding themselves into it's nose as the creature flapped it's wings, letting out a pain filled roar as red hot blood flowed from the relatively small wound as attempted to swat the pelicans and falcons firing at it out of the sky with it's massive talons, it's mighty winds buffeting the aircraft and ground with gusts of wind that kicked up a massive amount of dust and dirt, temporarily blinding those on the ground that had no protection on their faces. "Shit…...shit….shit our bullets are bouncing off this guy." Said a pilot as he banked his pelican to the right to avoid a deadly swat that would have carved the dropship above Jason in half. "Have the warthogs distract him and get him on the ground, then I want the pelicans to fire missiles." Jason ordered over the comm in his ear as he began to run down the hill he had been sitting on, his augmented speed carrying him faster than any human could run even without his armor as he let loose another three rounds into the beast's belly, all of which bounced off the heavy armored scales of the unknown red lizard creature. "Fucking hell, just die already." A pilot yelled over the comm as one of the pelicans went in and charged the creature, it's muzzle continuously firing it's payload of seventy millimeter rounds the casings jingling as they fell towards the earth and few of them hitting the helmets of some less than pleased marines as they looked up and flipped the bird at the gung ho pilot.

"Fuck off you bastard, I ain't dying after getting off Reach." He heard Miller yell as the colonel fired a MA37 at the creature which seemed to have no other effect other than pissing it off.

"These fucking disasters are really starting to PISS ME OFF." He heard the man yell as he took cover to reload his rifle.

" **We need heavy weapons and we need them now."** Thought Jason as his sidearm clicked empty, pulling a magazine from the bottom of the holster where they were stored before firing several more shots that merely bounced off its armored hide. Unfortunately most of the scorpion tanks were stored away right now inside of the ships and they couldn't call in longsword or saber air support due to the civilian casualties they could cause.

"FUCK YOU." Another man yelled as he fired a shotgun at the creature, his hand pumping back on the pump action each time he fired a shot. "If you want to kill anyone kill Griff you damn son of a bitch he has plenty of damn meat on his bones."

"Damn it Sarge, do any of your taunts involve me not dying horribly." Another man shouted as he fired a BR55 at the dragon creature.

"Nah, numb nut's gotta stick with the classics sometimes." The other gruff man retorted as he reloaded his shotgun with fresh shells, before unleashing another hail of pellets.

"Now charge!" The man with the shotgun said as he began to run towards the lizard dragon thing at full tilt sprint.

Jason heard an exasperated voice over the comm. "Anyone wanna pick up pieces of Sarge with me after, no ok then."

The lizard let out another ear piercing roar tearing Jason's eyes away from the two men as the other rand directly towards the beast as its maw seemed to light up with the wrath of some mighty god, it's head seemed to be engulfed in flame as a stream of fire shot down towards the ground, barely missing several warthogs as their veteran drivers drove out of the way, a few of their tires being hit by the hot flame whose heat could be felt even where Jason stood. Thankfully their tires were made to resist heat and they soon got out of the way before the heat made them immobile. Their gunners sooned trained their weapons on the lizard's face as a few of them let out war cries to answer the creature's roar with their own as a few of the fifty caliber rounds hit the creature square in the eye, blinding it in one eye as Jason heard one marine yell. "Fucking, come get some bitch." He said as eye let loose another hail of bullets from the warthog's turret, the barrel slowly beginning to glow red from the heat and stress of firing the massive fifty caliber bullets that fired from the muzzle, pelting the dragon with bullets like they were bb's from a child's bb gun as he kept on firing the dragon turning towards him as he let out a yell the driver not noticing in time as the dragon let out a massive stream of fire cooking the meat of the marines bones as the man on the gun let out a whimper before crumpling into a pile of ash and bones as the warthogs engine exploded under them. **"Damn it."** Thought Jason as he fired several more rounds at the dragon, his pistol echoing with the rest of the weapons being fired as the marines began to fight with more determination to avenge their now fallen comrades.

Jason reloaded the his empty sidearm as a marine beside him hefting a rocket launcher he had managed to pry from a box, checking to see if the backblast was clear of people the man then readjusted the launcher on his shoulder before firing, the heat from the backblast cooking the ground as the heat seeker found the massive target in front of it, the computer inside of the nose readjust the trajectory as it hit the dragon like beast in the groin, causing it to scream slightly as it looked down to where the marine and Jason were standing, the man and Spartan diving out of the way as a giant fist came slamming down where they once were, breaking the rock and dirt apart underneath it as the dragon looked down at them screaming at them again as it failed to kill it's prey.

The rocket managed to cause damage though as a massive amount of scales dropped from the heavy armor of the dragon that must have been weakened by the continuous fire from the warthogs. "Focus your fire on that point." Yelled Miller over the comm as another rocket was shot from somewhere in the clearing, but it missed as the dragon banked out of the way almost hitting one of the pelicans with it's body. **"It's learning."** Thought Jason as the echo of bullets firing continued to travel throughout the clearing and across what ever planet they were on along with the dragon's roars.

"Keep firing." He heard another marine yell over the commotion as he manned a warthog's turret, the driver swerving around in an attempt to avoid the scaly beast as it landed, kicked up a massive amount of dust and wind as it's claws sank into the soft dirt of the clearing they had landed in, it's tail swinging back and forth as a few warthog drivers managed to swerve out of the way of the spiked appendage. "MOVE MOVE MOVE." Jason heard a sergeant yell as the marines took cover behind the many crates that they had unloaded from the _Freelancer_ , another marine let out a frustrated yell as he let out a three round burst from his BR55 service rifle. "The fuck is this thing a fucking dragon, fucking shoot it flyboys before it roasts us like god damned stuck pigs with another napalm blast." He said in a scared tone as another heavy buffet of wind came from the dragon's wings, making Jason lose his balance a bit as he watched, his eyes watering a bit as he blinked the dirt and dust from them. "All pelicans fire." He heard Miller yell as the dropships quickly took their positions and hovered there for a moment, before firing their payload of heat seaking missiles at the creature, hitting it square in the chest at it let out another pain filled roar, before disappearing from view because of the massive explosion, another one quickly followed as the pelicans unloaded another volley of missiles each of them hitting their target with expert precision before the pelican pilots banked to the left and right to avoid another burst of flame that came through the smoke, though the flame seemed to be more intended to distract than to kill as a plume of black smoke wafted through the air.

When the smoke cleared the creature was gone and the air was clear as the marines breathed a sigh of relief. The air staying still for a moment as they heard another roar echo across the forest, then another and another getting further away as the creature retreated to whatever hole it came from. The air seemed to calm slightly when they could no longer hear the creature screaming in pain. "Everyone stand down." Jason said over the comm as the marines slouched and breathed sighs of relief. It was the first action they'd had since Reach and Jason had to admit it had gone better than he had expected, though what he had expected was the covenant so he couldn't really compare them to a primitive lizard they flew. "Colonel Miller meet me at the command tent, the rest of you clean up this damn mess." Jason ordered over the comm as he stood up straight, regaining his calm composure as he brushed off his officer clothing, the dust coming off in small plumes as he sighed. **"This is why I like my armor."** Thought Jason as he began walking towards the command tent, the rest of the marines beginning to restack and reorganize the supplies. A few had been wounded in the attack either from flipping their warthogs or getting hit by crates that had fallen over due to the massive amount of wind the creature created.

As he approached the command tent Jason could see colonel Miller chewing out several of the recon teams and pilots that had failed to spot the approaching creature. His voice seemed to resonated over the activity happening around the tent as he finished yelling, before dismissing the men each of them giving him a salute as they left, an ashamed expression on each of their faces as they realized that they failed their duties as marines and officers of the UNSC. Miller shook his head as he stood up in front of Jason, crossing his arms as he looked down at the map they were slowly creating thanks to their deeper recon teams. "The men need to realize that just because we got away from the covies, doesn't mean they get to kick back and relax in the line of duty." Miller said as he hung his head in shame, scratching his greying beard as Jason nodded. "Maybe we should set up a training and PT area for them after the housing construction is complete." Jason suggested as he crossed his arms. "Maybe Six, maybe but until we finish the housing that is a moot point, for now we will just have to keep discipline at a high until then." Miller said as he sighed. "The men haven't had any rest since before the attack on Reach began, with your permission I'd like to give them the choice for some leave, only for two days of course and we would have a skeleton crew ready if that oversized lizard decides to come back."

Jason thought about it for a second, of course the deep recon teams couldn't take advantage of this leave until their missions were over but the rest of the marines would just be sitting around all day doing nothing until they either came into contact with any enemy forces, that and the most were probably still shell shocked from having their home since they joined the corps destroyed and ripped away from them so quickly. "Very well." Jason said as he nodded, these men were not Spartans so he couldn't expect them to live up to the standards he had grown up with since ONI first selected him as a candidate when he was a child, but Jason couldn't help but feel he would be getting much more done if he had a team of Spartan-II or III's here to help him, but he had to work with what he had. The colonel gave him a smile and nodded before saluting which Jason returned in kind, before walking out of the command tent the marines outside still dealing with the mess with a few of the patrols talking amongst themselves as they walked around the perimeters of the clearing. A few ONI spooks they had picked up on Reach were gathering up some scales that had fallen from the dragon when it was hit, they appeared to be smoldering and smoking slightly from the impacts of the missiles as the spooks picked them up with gloved hands before storing them in a fireproof box that they would most likely be taking to Halsey. One of them nodded at Jason as he walked by, he knew the spooks would most likely feel some sort of animosity towards him like they did with most train soldiers. They likely blamed him for their current situation like Halsey did but Jason did not care, they were soldiers like the rest of them if they stepped out of line there would be consequences as with any other marine under an officer's command. He walked towards the _Freelancer_ the massive form of the Frigate contrasting against the natural beauty behind it as Jason heard the saws begin to start up again as the marines began cutting down tree's with double the effort. The snapping of branches could be heard as several hundred people began working on stripping the wood of it's bark and branches with the tools they had managed to salvage on Reach, a few of them were clearing away the burnt tents that the dragon creature had destroyed as the medics went around treating what wounds they could. This experience had given him much to think about as he walked up the loading ramp of the ship with a purpose, he needed to talk to Halsey first though.

Little did the men, women and even Jason know that in the mountains behind him a scout from an army was looking right at them his eyes wide as he got back on his horse and began skirting the UNSC camp as he made his way back to his commanders, his mind racing at what he had just witnessed as his horse made it's way down the mountain he had been camping on. His heart skipping a beat as one of the strange flying beasts the new people had came flying over him at such a fast speed that the very air around him seemed to crack in a violent shout of anger at an man or animal near it. His horse whinnied as it heard the noise, nearly bucking him out of the saddle before he regained control of the beast pushing the creature forward as he made his way back to the imperial camp with the news of what he had seen, his breath returning to his body as he made it a league away from the holy hill of Arnus and the loud sound of metal on metal the newcomers were producing in their camp. He was frightened and emperor Molt needed to be alerted to what he had just seen. A fire dragon was defeated and driven off by men.

 **Sorry about the short ass chapter but I felt it was just a continuation of the other one, I might just combine the two later, it was mostly just set up for the fight between the imperials and the UNSC. also for those who want to know the GATE will be showing up later.**


	4. Chapter 4: Battle

First Lieutenant Yoji Itami felt the warthog's suspension bounce slightly as they hit a large rock on the path his recon team had managed to cut through the small forest that surrounded them atop this hill they landed on, behind them a gauss hog and a standard warthog drove less than a car lengths away, he held an MA37 rifle in his hands as he sat in the open passenger seat of the troop transport hog with a large cabin attached to the bed of the vehicle where the rest of the squad were busy, leaving him and the driver in the open air. "Whoever thought that an open cockpit was good for the warthog was a fucking idiot." Itami swore as they quickly moved through the forest rubbing his shoulders to keep warm as the vehicle breaking through any underbrush that was left over as they made his team and him made their way to the edge of the forest.

Beside him sat sergeant Roy Anderson his driver, the man was eccentric Itami had to give him that, he was born on Reach unlike Itami who had been born in Japan on Earth before he signed up with the military at age 19, he had been drawn in by the steady income he could use to support his anime hobby though it soon turned into a want and need to protect the civilians of Earth and her colonies from the scumbag aliens known as the covenant.

When he first saw the bastards up close he was scared half to death by a grunt which he quickly shot with his rifle, that unfortunately led to an entire pack of them and their elite commander chasing him down five street blocks before he ran into a marine squad who were more then happy to take the chance for a little payback. Gunning each and every grunt down before giving the elite a piece of their mind with a shotgun blast, that was how he met Roy the man loved his shotgun that was for sure, he took the damn thing everywhere and cleaned it whenever he could until the metal shined enough the blind you on the spot.

He always carried extra shells for the thing into battle as well so he could go the longest time possible without having to scavenge the dead for ammo, in his words. He would rather have shells he knew worked then have to scavenge one's that could hurt his baby while in battle. The two had become good friends after that mission, Roy and the squad took Itami in when he requested a transfer to them from HIGHCOM, they were as much his family now as his family waiting for him back home on Earth.

Itami chuckled, he could remember the sergeant looking down at him before giving him a mouthful about looking where he was going. Him a young lieutenant fresh out of the academy being talked down to by a sergeant it almost made him laugh when he thought back to it, that mission to evacuate Arcadia was one of the few he remembered fondly and the only reason why was because he met Roy then.

Earth.

Everytime he thought about it, he mind seemed to go blank with no thoughts daring to break the white void that filled his mind. His mother must have received the letter explaining his missing status and possible death in the field of battle and it filled him with regret that he couldn't be there to comfort her right now, to tell her that he was alive and well still fighting for humanity. His father though… he never cared for his father the man had been uninterested in Itami and his life ever since he was born, not that he could blame the man he had been pulled out of service after one mission to many drove him to the breaking point, now all he could do was sit around and complain, wishing for the so called good old days where he kicked alien ass and took names like no other person in the marine corp. He was the other reason Itami had decided to join the marines, the stories his father told him when he wasn't drinking were one's of glory holding out against a foe that had seemed so far away at the time, but after he had joined he began to witness the horrors of war and what it was really like in real life. It wasn't some news broadcast far away or some show seen on late night TV.

No.

It was a real and life threatening drive for the survival of your very way of life, were if you don't become the killing machine someone else will put a plasma burst into your gut before you can say oops, you had to learn to look away from the anguish and pain in the people you passed by on your way to your objective, you had to steel yourself for what needed to be done. 10, 000 over there die so another 30,000 could live over there, a high ranking military admiral with classified military secrets was worth a platoon of soldiers. And lastly you were never to talk to the enemy never to give them anything that could be used against humanity in its war against the aliens, the words you uttered were your rank and serial number followed by a spit in the face before they killed you on the spot.

Itami felt the warthog bounce again as they made it out of the forest, finally clear of the underbrush he let out a relaxed sigh as he felt the warm rays from the unfamiliar sun bake his body in it's warm rays. It could have been making him impotent for all he cared he would have stayed in that sun's warm rays forever and just fallen asleep on the spot if the warthog didn't bounce again, causing him to hit his head on the headrest as he heard Roy laugh at him as he rubbed the back of his head. Itami groaned as a lump began to form on the back of his head, before socking Roy in the side of the arm for laughing at his pain. "Shut the fuck up Roy, I just wanted to catch a few Z's" Itami scowled as he sat up, now fully awake as the warthog drove faster through the open fields just outside of the forest.

"It's just damn funny Itami." Roy shot back with a smirk, the warthog bouncing again as it hit a very large rock.

"If you two are done fucking around out there, maybe be considerate for those who are trying to read the damn map." A voice came from the cabin on the back of the warthog, it's female but gruff tone cutting through the two men making them look back for a second before laughing.

"God damn Chris let us boys have some fun up here, all we have is a bunch of grass to look forward to with the possibility of being rained on" Itami shot back as he grinned. Sergeant Christine Ashburn as she looked through the window that separated the cabin on the back of the warthog from the driver and passenger seat, the warthog fell silent after that as Roy kept driving on across many hills as Itami lost himself in thought as he watched the blur of green grass and the occasional grey rock pass by.

But then he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as Roy slammed on the breaks the warthog skidding to a stop as the dirt behind it was torn up by the heavy wheels of the hog, the only thing that could be heard then was the low rumble of the engine as Roy stared forward his eyes wide as he look at something.

Tearing his eyes away from the other man, Itami followed his line of sight and his breath was taken away when he saw what Roy was looking at, the other two warthogs stopped beside them and the men were about to start complaining before they saw what the others were staring at.

It was a road.

It was a well worn, well traveled dirt road that as he looked down it seemed to lead to a bridge across a river with three trees dotting the road in a perfect line leading to the bridge. It was definitely man made anyone with half a brain could see that from a mile away. But the question in the back of the recon teams minds where, what the hell was a man made road doing on this seemingly uninhabited planet in the first place.

Stepping out of the warthog Itami held his rifle firmly in his gloved hands, the others quickly dismounted as Itami got on one knee and put his hand on the road. The ground felt harder and compacted then the dirt they had been traveling on for so long, many people had traveled along this highway and judging by the wheel marks and footprints that dotted the road Itami guessed the last person to travel on it was here about four or five days ago, give or take any elements the tracks may had been subjected to before they managed to find this road. "Lieutenant Itami." Gunnery Sergeant Frederick Taylor yelled from farther down the road. 'You better look at this."

Itami sighed as he stood up and began jogging down the road, his heavy armored boots crushing the green grass beneath him as he made his way to the gunnery sergeant. "What is it Gunny?" Itami asked as he stopped beside the larger man, his boots crushing a twig beneath their soles as Frederick held out a pair of bino's which Itami took into his hands before bringing them up to his eyes.

"Targets located in grid nineteen." Frederick said as Itami scanned the horizon before coming across what Fred was talking about.

It was a massive camp from the looks of it and as Itami zoomed in to get a closer look, he saw many things that left many questions in his mind. It was a military camp that was for sure judging by the amount of weapons and men that he saw scattered in between the tents. But the weapons he saw were ancient, same with the armor it all looked like the ancient roman legionnaires from Earth thousands of years ago. Shaking his head Itami looked through the bino's again just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, but they weren't and what was even more surprising is that he saw several smaller versions of that dragon thing they had recently fought back at base camp, flying above the unknown armies encampment letting out screeches and roars as they flew around in what seemed to be a practiced dogfight.

The recon team knew why these unknowns were here in such a massive force, it wasn't because they were on an expedition somewhere. No it was to large of a force for that and being this close to the UNSC encampment so soon without them noticing only signalled one thing in the back of Itami's mind. "Radio command and let them know we are about to get hit by the locals."

"Shit, lieutenant we've been spotted by enemy air." Roy yelled as a smaller version of the dragon creature that attacked them dove towards them.

 **UNSC** _ **Freelancer**_

Jason stood in Halsey's makeshift lab on the medical ward of the ship, the groans of the injured men from the recent battle with whatever beast they had come across still fresh throughout the UNSC camp and ship as he crossed his arms. "What the hell was that doctor Halsey." He said with a calm solid voice as he looked down at the creator of the Spartan program as she stared into a microscope. one of the scales the ONI spooks had managed to salvage from the battle under her gaze as she zoomed in and out trying to get a good look at it as she adjusted the light.

"Ahhhhhh there you are." She said with an unnervingly calm voice as she pulled her eyes away from her work long enough to look Jason in the eye with her usual cold and calculating expression, her long nails clicking on the desk for a full minute as she stared him down before finally saying something, breaking the heavy air between them like a demolition worker with a sledge hammer. "Well Noble Six you should be proud of yourself, you appear to be the first in recorded human history to discover a real live flying dragon." She clapped once and chuckled. "First aliens and now dragons….the universe never gives up on new and interesting ways to screw with us." She said as she got up, she had changed out of her heavy clothing to a simple lab coat and UNSC civilian uniform. They had managed to pull a few boxes of scales after the fight with the so called dragon, the spook seemed excited by the prospect of studying something new when they brought them in the only one who didn't look excited was Halsey like always, the woman had no emotion in her work it seemed only cold calculations.

"Are you serious?" Jason asked as he shook his head, his military instincts kicking in from years of training as a child taken into the Spartan program, warning him of the unknown and calculating how they could best fight the beasts that might lurk here, if there were mythical beasts like dragons here then they would have to devise a strategy on defending against them more effectively.

"Dead serious Noble, from what I saw these scales are as strong as tungsten it will take a large amount of concentrated fire to take it down and even then without a reading on whatever is underneath all this armor you might not be able to kill it without heavy weapons." She said as she held up the red scale in front of his face, Jason quickly took it from her as he inspected it closely the ruby red scale shining in the light of the lab as he held it in the scarred palm of his hand, before handing it back to Halsey's out stretched smaller hand.

"Make sure to tell the pilots and marines to use heavy weapons against these dragons I want a kill on sight order for these beasts." Jason said before walking out.

before he could leave though he heard Halsey call to him. "You armor is ready Noble if you wish for it back." Jason cracked a bit of a smile as he heard the news before leaving a grinning Halsey as she sat back down on her chair and put the scale back down under the microscope continuing her work in peace.

Jason walked out of the lab and through the infirmary, the sounds of people working echoing throughout the ship hangar bay doors closed and opened to let the ships coming and going in and out. He made his way towards the maintenance portion of the ship, he only ran into a few patrols making their rounds as they made sure no one was in an a place they shouldn't be, nodding at him as he walked by them. The ship had been mostly quiet since they had given most of their crew leave, since there were no cities nearby most decided to spend their time outside laying in the sun or having the first decent meal they have had in a while since Reach was attacked.

Moral was at an all time high even with this dragon attack that happened recently with people focusing more on setting up defenses and housing in their camp, as well as performing recon on the surrounding area which appeared to mostly be lush forests and rich, fertile soil that could provide excellent farming opportunities once the lab boys finished analyzing the the local plants the recon teams had picked up on their travels and test if it was safe for their personnel.

Jason rubbed the back of his head, two days now and they had not seen a trace of covenant forces trying to follow them to this unknown planet, the _Grafton_ was constantly scanning the area but it was difficult with the large electromagnetic field that surrounded the planet and jammed their sensors to hell, so they had to rely on their longsword and saber squadrons on the _Grafton_ to patrol the surrounding space of the system they were currently in. But that was a dangerous method that could get them killed if a covenant ship decided to slip into the system and began wreaking havoc on their small force.

For now they needed to keep as low a profile as possible in this system and not cause too much noise that could attract unwanted attention from the covenant forces that were no doubt looking for them right this very moment, so only the _Grafton_ was allowed the leave the planet at this point in time. while the _Freelancer_ and _Spirit Of Dusk_ were serving as staging areas and hospitals to treat the sick and injured from Reach as well as provide air cover with their longsword and saber flights, which they were only now beginning to use. Luckily they were currently overstocked on just about everything due to the supplies that had been on the ship and in the secret ONI base in the first place and due to the supplies they had scavenge for sword base and the marine teams that they had rescued.

Jason had assigned colonel Miller the task of regulating their supplies and coordinating the ground forces to set up an effective defenses in case they ran into any more hostile wildlife on this planet. They had begun using the tree's to set up barricades with sandbags along with the standard issue barricades aboard all UNSC ships to help defenders maintain proper cover in a ship when defending against boarding parties. He had Jun scouting out sniper positions they could use from the mountains behind them, luckily according to the other Spartan-III there were plenty of places in the hills that they could set up a sniper team or two and have them provide cover fire.

Jason rounded a corner and approached the technicians workshop for the second time in a day, smiling as he couldn't wait to finally get his armor back on and feel the systems augmenting his abilities to an even greater degree, than when he was out of his armor. Since he was practically reborn in the thing when he became a Spartan-III the suit became a part of his life and a Spartan should never be without their armor, they should always be combat ready for any situation they may arise.

Entering his UNSC ID code into the keypad on the door as he arrived the marine guard nodding and giving him a quick salute before returning to his duties, he was happy to see the red light that indicated a lock on the door turn green as it accepted the code, allowing him access to the technicians area. Walking through the rather loud maintenance area he approached the armor tech section of the techs lab, which just so happened to be situated just above the small cryo bay inside of the ship. In the center of the armor room sat his armor, the matte black paint now fully covering the red the used to coat the exterior, the officer's bars were painted onto the shoulders of the armor, marking him as an admiral even when he wore the armor.

The tech who had been finishing the upgrades to his armor, came in and grinned at Jason as he rubbed the back of his head. "Admiral welcome, I'm guessing you're here for your armor now, I heard Spartans felt naked without it but I never guessed it was that bad." He said before giving a short salute before approaching the armor and grabbing the body suit on the table next to it. "Here is your new body suit, it should provide better reaction timing for the armor and it will be able to handle the new armor abilities we have installed in your armor system." He explained before handing the bodysuit to Jason and grinning. "Courtesy of doctor Halsey, guess her team was working on it before Reach was attacked it took some tailoring but I think I got it to fit you."

Jason nodded as the man left for him to get changed into the body suit, peeling off the current one he had been wearing under his officer's uniform. The skin tight suit slowly peeled from his body as he took it off, revealing every firm muscle and scar he had received since he was first brought into active duty as a Spartan, they were memories of all the missions he had completed whether they were against innies or covenant forces, the scars proved that he had done his job and held up while in the line of duty all the while following his officer's commands to the letter. He saw the scar from the plasma sword stab he had received from an elite zealot while on Reach, the thought of which reminded him of Emile. The Spartan had gone down with a fight, like a true soldier he died in the line of duty fighting for something more and while Jason did not approve of the man's attitude he did admire how he was willing to fight to the bitter end like that and still go down swinging.

Jason sighed as he put on the new body suit, the firm almost rubber like suit fitting him like a glove as he felt it conform to his body structure, he walked over to the door and knocked on it letting the tech know he could come in now as the door unlocked, allowing the tech to step back inside before the door closed behind him.

"Alright sir, I just need you to step on the pad and we will get started." The tech explained as he approached a laptop sitting on a grey metal table near the pad as the armor began to move forwards towards it, an assortment of arms extending from the ceiling as they carefully grabbed each piece of the expensive armor system. Jason stepped forward onto the pad, the tech nodding in approval as he activated the arms.

Each of the mechanical arms began to slowly move towards Jason with laser accuracy as they began to put the armor on him, first came the chest piece which fit very nicely on his body suit, he felt the weight of the armor begin to increase as more was added on. Then came the legs, the magnetic seals of the four pieces sealing as they integrated with the codpiece and chest. Next came the arms which attached to the rest of his armor quite nicely before sealing. Lastly came the helmet which was sitting on the table next to the technician, Jason walked over the heavy metal boots of the armor thumping against the titanium floor, picking it up as he placed it over his head the helmet sealing with the rest of the suit as the visor flashed for a half a second before displaying his HUD.

"Alright sir." The tech said as he stepped in front of Jason tacpad in hand as he pressed a few buttons, soon enough there was the telltale low whine of his shields coming up, the tech continued talking. "Your new suit we are designating the mark seven, you will want to take it easy until you get used to the upgrades."

"Now let's test your targeting first." The tech said as he held up the tacpad a red light appearing on the tablet. "please look at the light." Jason did just that, adjusting his vision upwards as he looked at the red dot on the tacpad, the light turning green as he did.

"Alright, now look at this light." The tech continued as he lowered the dot.

Jason looked down slowly moving his head as he got used to the increased response time of the new armor, the tech smiling as the light turned green. "Alright that just about does it, now there are a few new abilities that Halsey has worked into this new unit using some salvaged covenant tech and help from yours truly." He said with a laugh. "Now first I want you to look at the new icon on your HUD and blink twice."

Jason did just that and was surprised when a beam of energy extended from his right forearm, the energy blade was colored a purple hue that stood out amongst the black paint on the armor. "That is the new plasma blade ability we have worked into the armor, the blade should be able to last a while in a fight up close but don't rely on it, it's not infinite." The tech explained as Jason nodded, holding the plasma blade close to his helmet as he examined the blade of energy, before blinking twice again the blade dissipating as the energy flowing through it was cut off. The tech nodded as he looked down at his tacpad. "We have also upgraded your shields, they should be more resistant to any enemy fire you take while in battle but if they go down, you now have a bubble shield built into your suit, just slam your fist on the ground and it should come up no problem." Jason nodded, clenching his fists as the tech continued. "Other then that there are a few more under the hood upgrades and technical stuff I won't go into now." the man said as he placed his tacpad on the table. "Alright that about does it sir, come back if you have any problems."

Jason nodded again, the technician saluting before leaving the room leaving Jason alone as he looked down at his armor. He was happy with the upgrades to the armor, they would help increase his combat efficiency, but it still felt slightly wrong to him his last armor system was customized by him personally, he knew the armor inside and out. He knew how to care for it, what it liked and disliked as well as the different faults he had to compensate for in battle. Now it felt like it a shell of an old friend, a ghost in a shell with different bits he didn't recognize.

He shrugged with a soft sigh that thankfully couldn't be heard outside of his helmet, he would just have to get used to the new system. He needed every advantage he could get on this hostile alien world but that didn't mean he had to like it. Walking out of the tech area, Jason made his way slowly towards the bridge of the ship so he could begin reading the daily reports from the officer's on the different ships.

"Admiral, a recon team has an urgent report for you." A voice came loud and clear over the comm as Jason stopped walking, recognizing the voice as Rose's.

"What is it Rose?" Jason asked, he knew it must have been important if she was contacting him and not waiting for him to get to the bridge like usual.

The A.I.'s avatar appeared on a screen on Jason's HUD as he finished speaking, the red avatar of a woman in ODST scout armor smirking at him as she continued speaking. "Recon team three is reporting signs of life on the planet." she explained as a few pictures flashed up on Jason's HUD. "And apparently the locals are aware of our presence and they aren't taking too kindly to us being camped out on this hill, an army has massed a few kilometers away from us and appear to be preparing an attack."

Rose laughed, a huge grin on his face as she continued. "But they shouldn't be too much of a threat according to the report their weapons are much like those used by ancient romans in centuries passed, no modern day weapons to speak of."

"And they're human?" Jason inquired as he looked through the photo's of the camp.

"As far as we can tell, yes they are and our pelican recon teams have begun to discover what looked to be cities and towns as well as other settlements, as far as we can tell this civilization we have landed on has not progressed enough to even discover basic space travel."

Jason nodded to himself, that would make things much easier on them if it turned into a full on battle, this time they atleast had the superior tech and ground to push back those who wished to harm them. "Alert the men and have them prepare for battle, I want to dig in and wait to see what this enemy human force does." Jason replied to the A.I. as an alarm began to go off throughout the ship, signalling every marine inside and outside to prepare for a combat situation. Then suddenly Rose's voice came over the loudspeaker, echoing throughout the ship as it began to bustle with activity as marines began to arm up, those who had been in their bunks rose like the dead on steroids as they jumped up out of their beds and donned their armor, before heading to the armory to grab their weapons. "All hands we are engaging an enemy, standby to repel attackers." Rose said over the intercom as Jason watched marines run by him all of them decked out in full combat gear as they made their way to their assigned fire teams.

"Fire teams alpha through gamma report to hangar bay five."

Jason broke into a light jog as he made his way towards the ship's armory, though it seemed like more of a run to any normal human as he passed by marines and naval officer's alike all fully armed with either rifles and sidearms, with some marines lugging around heavy weapons on their backs, Jason activated his comm as he approached the armory. "Rose have the _Grafton_ standby to provide orbital cover fire, tell them to fire a warning shot when the enemy get's too close to our perimeter."

"Copy that Noble, be advised recon reports enemy movement, they are marching right towards us."

Jason nodded before cutting the comm line as he ducked through the door into the armory, grabbing a standard issue M37A rifle and a BR55 service rifle as well as some spare ammo plus grenades, before making his way out clipping the BR55 onto the magnetic holster on his back as he clutched the M37A in his hands, his HUD integrating with the weapon as he ran towards the loading ramp.

As he stepped outside he could hear the marching of approaching men with his augmented hearing, even as pelicans and longswords launched from their hangar bays and the men set up mortar emplacements and tank positions, he spotted Jun amongst the crowd of marines the other Spartan-III directing the defenses with Colonel Miller, he had a sniper rifle clutched in his hands as he spoke with the colonel, nodding at Jason as he walked up to the two men.

"What's the situation?" Jason asked as he hefted his M37A in one hand as he spoke.

Jun saluted as Jason nodded at him, Colonel Miller shaking his head as he looked over at the makeshift defenses the marines were setting up, a few scorpion tanks passed by them with an escort of warthogs as they began to make their way into the forest that separated them from the enemy via the paths they had managed to clear out from the forest, marine squads also filtered into the forest their green armor blending in with the underbrush as they took cover under the thick bushes and between the tree's where the enemy could not see them.

Colonel Miller brought up a tacpad with a map on it as he grimaced. "As far as we can tell the enemy is holding just a few clicks outside of the perimeter and they appear to be preparing to try to charge our position." Miller explained as he fiddled with the tacpad, the map showing a group of small red dots that represented the enemy forces, while some white dots appeared representing the UNSC forces. "From what we can see their forces seem to be comprised mostly of humans, with a few ugly looking beast like creatures supporting them." Miller explained as a few lines of dots flashed.

"They also appear to have a primitive form of air support, using a smaller species of that dragon creature that attacked us." As Miller said this an image of a human warrior riding a dragon came up on the screen.

"Hopefully they aren't as strong as their bigger brother." Jun remarked as he looked over the image. "I'll be setting up my sniper teams in the brush and along the hillsides flanking the enemy force, we will also be able to spot targets for the _Grafton_ if we need her to soften them up." Jun said as he pressed several buttons on the tacpad, the image changing back to the map as as several more white dots appeared spread out in the forest and in the hills overlooking the battlefield.

"Good thinking, as long as we keep the enemy at a distance we can wreak havoc on the enemy forces without incurring any casualties ourselves." Miller said as he closed the tacpad. "Air support should start softening the enemy up any minute now." As Miller said this a squadron of longswords flew over the camp, the air around them letting off a huge explosion of sound as they went supersonic, the cheers of the marines could be heard just barely over the sound as they watched the longswords fly towards the enemy forces, their bomb bay doors opening as they began to drop their payload onto the offending enemy forces.

Explosions could be heard echoing throughout the land as the bombs hit their targets, the large metal canisters filled with explosives hit the open ground the enemy army had been marching across, the triggers inside of the bombs detonated the explosives inside, the ground seemed to erupt under the more primitive enemy soldiers as the explosives went off the ground shaking clumps of dirt and rock were sent into the air along with the limbs and bodies of the enemy soldiers as they let out pain filled screams that echoed across the land towards the UNSC forces. But the men did not flinch as they watched human men get decimated by the bombs as the longswords passed over.

The men flying the dragons attempted to fight the longswords as they passed by at unpredictable high speeds, but they missed the fighters as the they passed by the dragon mounts letting out hisses as their prey escaped their grasps. The riders on their backs yelling as they slashed at the air with giant lances letting out yells of frustration as they watched the longswords disappear across the horizon. As the smoke cleared from the battlefield one could see several more enemy lines that had managed to survive the strafing and they continued to march forward even as they marched over the broken bodies of their fallen comrades in arms as they looked around at the complete devastation that seemed to just appear around them.

Jason left Miller and Jun as he walked towards the front lines of the UNSC forces, his rifle clutched in his hands as he spotted Jun almost floating between the tree's like a ghost in the night, his sniper rifle in hand as he radioed targets to the rest of his sniper team. This was a Spartan in his element, causing hell for his enemy as he defended his allies from harm. Jun's sniper rifle letting off several cracks as him and his team began picking off what they assumed were the more high ranking officers in the enemy military in order to demoralize the lower ranking soldiers as they marched forward.

As this was happening the mortar teams and scorpion tanks began firing, the low whines of mortar shells could be heard over the sound of sniper fire as more explosions rocked a land that had never seen destruction on such a scale so quickly, the men on the other side began to let out screams and cries of anguish again. Pelicans and falcons flew overhead as they fired their twenty millimeter and fifty millimeter rounds cut through the dragon creatures as they attempted to attack the UNSC forces in hiding amongst the tree's, the massive caliber bullets cutting through the thinner scales of the small dragons as they let out screeches of pain as the hot led cut through their insides.

"Yeah get some." Jason heard a marine yell as they began firing at the stragglers that managed to make it past the scorpion tank and mortar fire, their bullets cutting through the thin metal armor of the enemy soldiers as they tried to attempt one final charge towards the enemy lines only to be cut down by the UNSC marines small arms and heavy machine gun fire. A few of the soldiers tried to bolt from the combat and run for the hills, but they were soon shot in the back by the marines.

Jason heard his rifle crack as it kicked back in his hands, the MA37 rifle firing its magazine of 7.62x51 millimeter rounds, the ammo counter slowly counting down as it fired its thirtytwo round clip of ammo. The weapon cut down the enemy soldiers like knife through butter as Jason directed his fire to a group of soldiers attempting to flank the UNSC forces. Realizing they had been spotted the soldiers attempted to flee but were soon cut down by Jason rifle as it let out several barks, firing one bullet each into the enemy soldiers backs to save ammo as they began to push the enemy force back from the UNSC's lines.

A falcon flew over as the two door gunners picked off the enemy forces from above, their machine guns muzzles were bright red as they let out a continues stream of fire as the bullets embedded themselves into the bodies of the enemy force, the pilot banked to the left to avoid a strike from a dragon as he moved his head to the side the machine gun moving with his head as he pulled the trigger. Letting loose a hail of twenty millimeter rounds that cut through the dragon as its rider attempted to line up another shot but couldn't as the pilot banked to the left and right.

A few warthogs burst out of the brush as their drivers began to swerve through the remains of the breaking enemy forces, their gunners keeping their fingers pressed firmly on the triggers as they fired their heavy machine guns and gauss cannons respectively as they began to route the enemy force, encircling them as they cut them down.

Jason tossed a grenade into a group of them, the frag exploding seconds later as the explosive inside cut down those who were too close to the grenade. Their limbs being ripped off as those farther away had bits of shrapnel embedded in their limbs, causing them to scream and collapse as they writhed in pain.

One man who managed to avoid the grenade let out a shriek and began rambling in a language Jason did not recognize, dropping his weapon as he collapsed to the ground, begging for his life as Jason walked up to him, contemplating on what to do with the man. Judging by his armor he appeared to be an officer, whom Jason guessed could have valuable information on why his military was trying to attack the UNSC newcomers without so much as a "How do you do." Letting out a grunt Jason took the butt of his rifle and slammed it into the man's face, hard enough to knock him out for more than a few hours but not hard enough to kill him, the man fell over twitching slightly in the blood soaked grass before being picked up by Jason and slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he began to run back towards the UNSC front lines.

The marines who spotted him running towards them gave him cover fire as the primitive soldiers attempted to strike at him with their swords, his shields blocking their strikes and mitigating all of the kinetic energy as he continued to run, bounding across the open battlefield as soldiers continue to fall like flies as Jason stopped as soon as he got to the UNSC lines in their heavily defended forest on the high ground, dropping the man on his shoulder near a squad of marines as he nodded at them. "Make sure he doesn't die." He ordered as he headed back into the fray.

"Marines, finish these fucks off keep any who surrender alive, kill the rest." Jason yelled over the comm as he jumped back into the heat of battle, his rifle barking every time he took another soldier's life as he charged at the larger spartan, Jason quickly pulled out his BR55 service rifle as he turned slightly to the right to face the charging warrior as the man let out a loud war cry his arm raised up to strike as Jason looked through the scope of the battle rifle, aiming for the center of his chest before pulling the trigger, half a second passed before the rifle let out a three round burst from its barrel, the rounds embedding themselves in the man's chest and cutting through his heart as he continued to run at Jason for a full four seconds before his body registered his heart had stopped beating and his brain finally shut down, the gaping wound from the three round burst gushing blood as he collapsed like the rest.

Then Jason heard a massive growl come from behind him turning around as he spotted a massive ogre looking creature came at him with a rather large wooden hammer, He tried to fire his weapon at the creature but was caught in mid pull of the trigger by the larger creatures hammer slamming into the side of his body sending his weapon flying from his grip and making him stumble a bit, his shields flaring as the strength behind the enemies blow was enough to knock a quarter off its strength. Dropping his rifle Jason delivered a swift kick to the beasts groin, causing the creature to let out a whimper and growl at him as it tried to grab the spartan with its free hand but was stimied by the weight of Jason's armor as the Spartan three could not help but grin as the creature attempted to pull him from the ground again slowly getting more and more frustrated as it let out another might yell, spittle from it's mouth coating Jason's golden visor as the Spartan clenched his fist, using the weight of his armor to his advantage he pulled his fist back as far as it would go before slamming it into the creature's face.

Jason let out a yell as he felt bone crunch, skin break apart and muscle fibers tear under the heavy force of his fist as he crushed the monsters skull under his clenched fist, he felt the beast grow limp under his fist as it's body registered its brain being destroyed. Delivering another heavy punch Jason finally felt the creature's large hands release him from it's grip as the ogre creature fell to the ground, it's head reduced to a bloody pulp as Jason walked over picking up his BR55.

Then he heard the crack of a heavily modified SRS99 anti material rifle and the sound of a bullet passing by his head as the bullet embedded itself into the skull of a primitive soldier attempting to sneak up behind Jason as he looked for his weapon, he couldn't help but grin as he heard a familiar voice come in over the comm. "Still saving your ass from the sneaky one's Six, these bullets ain't cheap you know gotta make every shot count even when I'm not watching our admirals ass as he fumbles around for his gun."

"Think of it as a way of increasing your kill count Noble three." Jason shot back at the other Spartan as he spotted his BR55 laying in the grass under a tree, running up to the tree Jason quickly grabbed the burst fire rifle as he heard several more cracks echo near him as Jun continued to pick off enemy soldiers that were attempting to move near him.

"That's three more you owe me Six." Jun laughed as Jason let out a slight sigh before reloading his weapon, taking a clip out of the storage area on the side of his leg, nodding as he slide the clip of ammo into the rifle, the magazine clicking into place as the BR55 registered the increase in ammo the ammo counter refilling to the max as Jason began firing once again.

"We're pushing them back Marine's remember to capture some alive and tell the _Grafton_ to begin hammering their reserves, coordinates as follows grid 33x20 point Deca-Charlie authorization code Papa-Lima four niner niner, hammer them into the dirt." Jason heard Miller yell over the comm as he spotted the man with an M6G in his hand, several marines covering him as he directed their ground forces, Jason felt glad that he had the man under his command as the stories said he was a master on the ground and could pick up the slack were Jason fell short when it came to commanding troops. More gunshots and screams echoed throughout the forest as the marines beat back the far larger force, their weapons slowly growing hot in their hands as they beat back the seemingly endless amount of troops.

Another burst of fire from Jason's rifle hit what looked like an anthropomorphic pig creature wielding what looked to be a small dagger that had yet to be covered in blood as the marines armor was to thick to be pierced by such a small weapon, an explosion rocking the ground as he heard the _Grafton_ begin shelling the enemy armies reserve troops, using their fifty millimeter defense guns to hammer the last of the enemy reserves.

" **Good job Captain Buck."** Jason thought as he looked up to the sky, watching the small flashes of light coming from the _Grafton_ as she hammered the enemy forces.

"Their falling back sir!" Jason heard a sniper report over the comm as the enemy forces morale dropped and broke under the pressure of such heavy losses, many of the soldiers breaking rank and fleeing the battle as the UNSC forces chased them out of their perimeter, while others threw down their arms and surrendered to the superior force, begging for mercy in their language as the marines slapped bindings on their wrists and began to group them up into camps.

The few soldiers who refused to stop fighting for their lives were quickly cut down by air support from the sky, or their marine fire teams as they began to secure the perimeter of their hill. The _Grafton_ stopped raining hell on the enemy forces, the last shell kicking up a shit don of dirt as the high explosive shell hit the ground, deforming the landscape to something that one could not even recognize.

"These people must think we are gods." Jason heard Jun say over Noble team's private channel as the other Spartan walked up beside him, the sound of twigs and grass crunching underneath his boots as Jason's augmented ears picked up the light sounds.

"Makes you think huh." Jun said as he hefted his SRS99 rifle and activated the magnetic holster on his back, the large rifle attach itself to his armor as Jason looked over at the third and second last man of noble team. "Let's just hope we don't become the covenant."

Jason shook his helmeted head. "We are not going to war with them Jun." He said firmly as looked around, watching several marines yell and push several prisoners towards their camp with the butt of their rifles under heavy guard with two warthogs driving along slowly beside them as the enemy soldiers now POW's watch in awe as the marines on the turrets kept their weapons trained of the prisoners in case they tried something.

"Just saying Six, judging by their willingness to attack us with this large of a force they may not want to take any peace offerings from us." Jun explained. "And then what will we do?"

"We will do what was necessary." Jason said solemnly as he looked at the broken and battered bodies that now littered the forest, the scavenger birds of this world circling above as their meal time began to approach. "We need to clean this mess up first thought." Jason muttered to himself as he kicked a large rock, the stone clanging against his armor as it went flying the forest smelling of death and gunpowder as they continued to round up the survivors.

Jason had a feeling that the marines shore leave would have to be postponed indefinitely now and they would need to prepare for any surprise attacks this new enemy they had made may plan to launch against their forces. They would need to dig in more, maybe even use some of the scorpion tanks as heavy gun emplacements until they managed to erect their own. He also wanted to begin to recon any nearby settlements near their little camp and see if any of the other locals that might live here gave a warmer welcome than military force against them.

He didn't want to kill the locals but he would give the marine recon teams a kill order if they were hostile and could not be subdued by regular means and if whatever government they had here decided to try to wipe them out, they would have another thing coming to them because Jason would not let the men and woman who survived Reach fall without a fight.

"Come on Jun, we have something to do." Jason said as he began walking back to the UNSC camp, rifle attached to his back as he walked over corpse after corpse, listening as he heard two marines talking.

"Come on man, if they have these ogre things here then they would have to have cat girls as well." One said.

"God damn Roy you pervert." The other said with a sigh.

"Hey, I'm offended I am not a pervert more a cat girl conussier." The other said with mock pain in his voice. "Plus you're the one who introduced me to anime."

"Yeah, yeah and I've been regretting it ever since." The other marine sighed as he sat down and began eating an energy bar.


	5. Chapter 5: Carter

**Update Tuesday, Jan 19, 2016: Just found out after months of being off of youtube that youtuber Totalbiscuit has terminal liver cancer and will be most likely dead in 2-3 years, he is a youtuber I have followed for years now and while I know this will never reach him I want to issue my support and wish him good luck fighting this horrible disease and to all of you guys out there who are reading this whether you are a fan of my writing or not, make sure to get checked as soon as possible if you believe you have cancer.**

 **For all of you guys out there, show your support for him in his last few years with some nice comments on his videos.**

 **Too many youtubers are dying these years for a multitude of reasons.**

 **Update #2: Just read the other Halo, GATE crossover and it was meh, though mine probably sucks more.**

 **Also no the JSDF will not be showing up here.**

 **UPDATE #3: I messed up and forgot hardy fucking kills every male she comes in contact with, so like an asshole I shall retcon it because fuck me if I am breaking a character to much, also I have some wiki editing to do because the WIKI does not mention this.**

 **List of Noble team members (In order of appearence in this story)**

 **Noble Six**

 **Jun**

 **Carter**

 **Kat**

 _SLAM!_

 _BOOOOOOM!_

A crash followed up by the sound of an explosion echoed across the broken and battered landscape of the planet Reach as Carter-A259 coughed up more blood as felt the pelican slowly crumple as he smashed into the side of the scarab threatening the last two men of noble team as they rode a mongoose towards the _Pillar Of Autumn_ , the atv bouncing along the destroyed highway as the two of them watched the pelican strike the armored covenant troop carrier before it could ready its massive plasma beam and strike at them. Carter felt his life flash before his eyes as he watched the cockpit cave in on itself in what appeared to be slow motion as he saw each of his Spartan comrades faces one last time.

Jorge the man deserved better then to be killed in space away from the place he called his home for so many years since he became a Spartan, Carter couldn't help but feel the same way as the pelican slammed into the scarab, he had grown fond of Reach ever since Noble was deployed on the planet, but the universe was a cruel place and Carter knew that all too well as he felt the pelicans engines go critical with the scarab, releasing a massive blast of energy.

His next thought was of Kat, he respected the woman like no one else even if she went outside her jurisdiction more than once, but he knew it was because she just wanted to know things so she could protect her comrades better in the field with the best intel she could get. Cater thought about Emile next, if anyone could go down swinging it would be him and Carter hoped he gave the covenant a good present before going down in a blaze of glory like all Spartans were bred to do, since he knew that none of Noble team would make it out alive, except for one.

And the last person he thought of funnily enough was Nobles rookie, Six. Carter never really bothered to learn his real name, not that the man would have revealed it to him anyway, maybe if they had made it off Reach he would have learned but Carter knew when the covenant attacked that most of Noble would not make it out alive, but deep in his heart he knew Six would make it off this dying planet no matter what, there was no explanation for the thought the Spartan could just feel it in his bones as he felt his armor heat up as he slammed against the crushed glass and metal of the cockpit, he could feel himself being pushed back as he flew backwards out of the cockpit and into the blood tray of the pelican.

He managed to catch his helmet before it went flying out of the back of the pelican as he felt the heat of superheated plasma begin to surround his body as he sealed it to the rest of his armor as it went into lock, surrounding his body in a white glow to protect him as he watched the scarab explode around him. Cater watched as the wisps of green plasma danced around his body, thankfully unable to harm him as the pelican began to melt into slag.

"S-s-shit." Carter coughed as he felt his back slam against the ground as he fell out of the blood tray and down several feet into the red dust of Reach, his armor thankfully unlocking as he watched the pelican go critical and add its engines explosive energy to the scarabs. He felt his lungs cough up another glob of blood as he reached forward with his gauntleted hand, grabbing a fist full of loose dirt as he began to slowly make his way out from under the scarab as it teetered over him.

Then it all went black as Carter felt his life begin to slip away from him, his lungs attempting to fill with the burnt air of Reach. This was it and Carter knew it in his dying mind as it struggled for any wisp of oxygen he could get, but it was all for naught as Carter felt his life begin to slip away from him. He was going to die here and he knew it, he was dying and there was nothing he could do about it as he slowly began to crawl towards a larger rock, coughing up another glob of blood which allowed him to breath in a bit of oxygen which his deprived brain at up like a starving man in the desert, his body letting out a soft shudder as he looked up watching a seraph fighter fly over him.

"Must be hunting for survivors." Carter said to himself as he felt his head grow lighter, his chest burning like hell as he looked down and saw blood stream from the gaping wound the covenant plasma fire had left on the usually pristine sheet of titanium.

Carter was still crawling towards the large rock, his hands gripping the soft dirt and destroyed bits of road that dotted the landscape he hand landed on, the blood soaking his armor and the ground below him as he reached the rock, gripping it in his hands as he slowly pulled himself up, turning around and leaning against it as he let out another ragged cough of blood that splattered against his visor.

"Guess they should up the shield strength a bit more." Carter said with a chuckle before letting off another hacking, blood soaked cough that covered his chest plate with more of his life liquid, his head growing even lighter as he dipped his hand in it, watching as the blood soaked his hand in crimson liquid that ran down his hand and forearm only to drip onto the ground below, soaking it with more blood as he looked up and watched several phantoms pass over head, most likely headed back to their ships before the entire planet was consumed by super heated plasma.

"Noble one you should seek medical attention." Carter heard the voice of noble teams A.I. come over the comm as he leaned back against the rock.

"I don't think I have time DOT." Carter muttered as he looked up to the sky, watching as a covenant CCS-battlecruiser positioned itself over him. "Hey DOT." Carter said over the comm as the plasma beam above him began to charge up its super heated beam of energy.

"Yes Noble One." The A.I. replied in her monotone, seemingly uncaring voice as Carter lay there dying in the hot sand.

"Think there will be an afterlife." Carter whispered into the comm, it was surprising that he was thinking about this at a time like this. Carter had never put too much thought into the belief of an afterlife, being a Spartan he had long since put such thoughts behind him when he was recruited into the program they did no good on a mission where everyone of your brothers lives were on the line and the fate of humanity lay in the balance and the success of your mission lay in your hands.

A small tear ran down Carter's face as he thought about it, it was the first he had shed since he became a Spartan-III, tears were a sign of feelings and they had no place in a war like this, they had no place in his life anymore. But still as he lay there dying all he could think was how much he wanted revenge, how much he wanted to kill every last alien that dared to set their feet on Reach, he wanted to take personal pleasure in torturing the elite that killed Kat from a sniper point like a coward and he would take even more pleasure in taking out each and every one of the ships now burning Reach to the ground.

This feeling was new to him and it burned in his soul like a fire, as a Spartan he was taught to detach himself from every situation to face battle like it was just another chore, but as he focused on this new feeling welling up inside and allowed it to give him strength to face his death, because he knew the last of his team would enact his revenge upon as many covenant they could and he would become part of a symbol of hope for humanity, people would look at noble team as an example and fight all the more harder for each and every planet the covenant had the balls to land on.

"I am not qualified to answer that question Noble one." DOT replied as her icon appeared on Carter's battered HUD, breaking through his darker thoughts with her monotone voice as he came back to reality. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at DOT's answer as he lay there in the dirt waiting to return to the planet that had been his home since he was transferred here. It was oddly peaceful and Carter had to admit he finally saw what Jorge had seen in this place, even after the land had been broken and battered beyond repair by the scorch marks of this long war between the humans and the covenant. Even then it was still peaceful the way the land seemed to stretch out in curves and dips and a few jagged rocks and mountains to break up the flat land.

" **It's a place worth dying for."** Thought Carter as he felt the ground beneath him, looking down as he watched the soft red dirt crumble in his hands. Yes this was a world worth dying for even while it was dying it still managed to take breaths away as the color of the dirt mixed with the color of the covenants glassing beams, producing something akin to a painting as the large curved, purple ships hovered above the land they were destroying.

This was a place Carter could call home and it was a place he could call his tomb.

Now as he lay broken and bleeding in the sand he could not help but think back to those old stories he had heard of the afterlife, he couldn't help but wonder what dying would be like once he was finished breathing, would it be angels singing in a choir as he slowly rose from his body up into the heavens above. Or would it be simple oblivion that took him and allowed him to drift for eternity in a black void devoid of any life.

"That would be nice." Carter muttered as he slumped back as he felt the jetpack on his back slowly scrape against the hard rock as he began to feel the heat from the plasma beam above as it seemed to slowly begin to outstretch towards him like the loving embrace of a mother that Carter knew he had somewhere.

He was ready to die, he had done all he could for this fight and while they had lost they managed to save everyone they could before they had. He had no regrets as he stared death straight in the face. Feeling the warm embrace of the plasma beam envelope his body, there was some pain as it began but it was soon replaced with a numb feeling as his armor and body evaporate under the beam of plasma.

The world went black then.

Carter felt nothing, no pain, no pleasure it was just a void.

Then I light, almost a pinprick came into existence barely noticeable against the black background as it began to float towards Carter. His body tensing as he tried to reach for his rifle but was unable to as his muscles seemed to just freeze in place, all he could do was watch as the light grew bigger and bigger against the black background, nearly blinding him with its brilliant light as it grew closer and closer to him.

His muscles tensed and his mind whirled around and around as he watched this small orb of blinding light grow closer to his armor clad body. **"Why can't I move!"** Carter nearly yelled at himself through his thoughts as he watched this unidentified object just grow closer and closer to him, that's when he felt a sensation begin to build up in his lungs, he began hacking out blood of his own accord and his mind seemed to fill itself with thoughts of only one word as he kept on hacking up blood that coated the inside of his helmet, running down the visor and back into his mouth as a tiny whisper spoke in his ear.

" **Palapon…..Palapon…...Palapon."** It said over and over again repeating the name like a chant in Carter's ear.

"Who the hell are you?" Carter finally spoke, his voice raspy and blood leaking down his visor as he watched the light in front of him spot for about half a second before continuing on its path.

"I am Palapon lord of revenge and you my dear servant are my apostle now, bound to my wishes." The voice now unmistakably male said in a low dark voice that seemed to creep into Carter's very skull.

"I am Spartan-A259, unless you have an official UNSC military rank, you do not control me." Carter said flatly, a pit of dread forming in his stomach even as he uttered the words.

A roaring laugh seemed to shake Carter's very bones as he floated through the inky blackness, the laugh causing his vision to go blurry for a second and then the unmistakable sound of lips smacking. "I sense a darkness in your heart, little soldier it crawls within you like a worm but I can see its true heart."

"Yesssss." Palapon hissed into Carter's ear. "Such a lovely, festering darkness, you want revenge against those who killed your only remaining family, you want to see them beaten and broken before you, only then will this revenge be satisfied, I can give this to you." Palapon whispered, making Carter shiver slightly as the feeling returned to his heart, the burning fire that threatened to overwhelm all his training his mind wrestling with itself as Palapon continued. "You are very lucky, if that bitch Hardy had gotten to you she would have torn you limb from limb without a second thought just because you are a man, but I can see the potential she cannot."

Carter attempted to move, attempted to reach for his rifle, he attempted to do anything as the light continued to move towards him at what seemed like a snail's pace. "Do not try to resist my new servant, you will serve me whether you like it or not." With that Palapon went silent, but the light continued on its course for Carter's chest.

"What the hell!" Carter said with a grunt as he felt a piercing pain travel throughout his body as the light stopped mere inches away from his open chest wound, the blood soaked gash from covenant plasma fire seemed to be on fire once again as the light did something to it. Pain coursed through his entire body as the sphere of light worked whatever magic it had on Carter's beaten and broken body, he felt bones that had been cracked begin to reset themselves seemingly of their own accord as he just floated through the inky nothingness around him, his hoard cries of pain the only company, it felt as if his body was changing from the inside molding itself to meet some task, though what it was Carter could not be certain, the only thing he was certain of was the pain traveling through his nervous system as his HUD flashed.

A piece of shrapnel was slowly being pushed out from his body as he let out another hoarse cry of pain, covered in blood from his lungs and alveoli tissue as he watched the light slowly approach it, the sphere seemingly enveloping the piece of metal as Carter let out another hoarse screaming as his armor let out even more warning signals. He attempted to bat it away, but his arm refused to move as his floated there in what seemed to be a frozen stasis. Then he blacked out, his conscious mind slipping away as he felt the light slowly push itself into his chest.

 **Sometime later…. two days before the UNSC forces arrived at Alnus hill.**

Carter felt his heart start beating and his lungs fill with oxygen as his body slowly began to reactivate itself, his blood began to flow through his veins as he opened his eyes. His visor flickered slightly as he looked up at what appeared to be a blue sky, the speakers in his helmet blaring in his ears as air rushed past him.

He was falling, somehow he was falling, the speakers in his helmet kept blaring the sound of wind rushing past him as he fell.

Had the ground he had been laying on while he died broken beneath him when the covenant started glassing?

This had to be some sort of death fever dream, something his mind cooked up as it was vaporized by the plasma beam.

Carter twisted his body as he looked down towards the ground, positioning his body in a spread eagle position. His armor was causing him to fall like a brick as he watched the clouds below him get closer and closer. He was glad he his armor had a built in oxygen supply as he streaked through the air at terminal velocity towards the clouds.

That's when he heard it, the familiar crack and whoosh of sound he had heard so many times while fighting on the surface of Reach during the covenant invasion.

The sound of a slipspace rupture could be heard clear as day as Carter turned around again, activating his jetpack as his descent suddenly stopped as he looked around for the source of the sound. It didn't take to long, looking up Carter spotted it a UNSC Charon-class frigate that appeared to be badly damaged careening towards him, he didn't know where it came from but he couldn't help but feel mesmerized as he watched the frigate pass by him the flash of the bridge windows as it passed by Carter almost blinding him as he activated his jetpack to move farther away as the ship continued on its collision course with the ground.

" **A gift for you servant."** A familiar voice echoed through Carter's head. **"You will find me a strict god to serve, but I do reward those who follow."** With that the voice was cut off once again, leaving Carter to his thoughts.

"It was just a dream." He said to himself, though he did not sound convincing to himself in the slightest, there was no way this mere light had managed to send him to whatever place this was.

Carter watched as the ship cut through the thick cloud cover like a knife through butter, the clouds seemingly breaking apart as the ship pushed through them revealing the ground to Carter. What he saw almost left him breathless as he saw the ground below, rolling hills and great mountains along with green grass and blue lakes seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in what appeared to be a natural paradise.

He watched as it skimmed over the forest below him, before smashing into the clearing just outside of it, the frigate dug up earth and large stones as it skidded to a halt leaving a massive trail of destruction behind it as the ground tore off the titanium armor plating and caused the nose of the ship to crumple in on itself, letting out the screech of wrenching titanium as the ground exploded around it, flames bursting from the hull as holes were torn in the hull.

A few of the lower point defense cannons near the bridge were ripped off as they hit the ground, the sound of an explosion rocking the ground as some of the ammo exploded inside of the ship. luckily it appeared that the blast doors had sealed on time since the explosion did not set off a chain of explosions that would have ripped the mangled corpse of a ship to all hell.

One of the engine pods was torn off next as it went flying forwards ahead of the rest of the ship, the engine was still firing as it smashed into the ground several klicks in front of the rest of the ships mangled hull as the rest of the ship came to a sudden stop, thankfully the fusion reactor seemed to be shielded enough from the impact since the engine did not explode as the emergency measures inside of the engine pod kicked in and shut the engine down before it could cause more damage, hopefully someone survived that wreck and if not Carter hoped the emergency beacon at least managed to get out undamaged

This wasn't Reach, anyone with half a mind could tell that this wasn't the military planet of the UNSC. The landscape was to lush and colorful and much of the landscape was off, that along with the fact that Carter had no connection to a satellite feed.

But it was just a dream right, there was no way a light managed to penetrate his armors systems and somehow enter his body.

The more he thought about it, the more worried Carter seemed to get as he looked down at his chest plate. What he saw surprised him to no end, he chestplate had been repaired. Every scratch, every ding as well as the gaping hole that he had received while flying the pelican to the _Autumn_ was just gone, he no longer had trouble breathing and he was not coughing up blood to no end as he slowly began floating to the ground with his jetpack and as he felt the jetpack grow lighter as he used more and more fuel, he no longer felt the sting of plasma baking his insides.

This had to be a dream, a dying thought of his oxygen deprived brain, some part of him that hadn't accepted his death on Reach yet a part of him that wanted to live, part of him that refused to accept that he could die alone like this without so much as a fight.

But no.

"This is real." muttered as he felt the air begin rushing past his armor again as his jetpack ran out of fuel finally, his mind processing what was going on he had died and he knew it the memory of his body baking under the glassing beam of the covenant ship as his arms outstretched once again, his mind still reeling as he dove through the cloud cover the air around him letting out a loud crack and boom as he broke the sound barrier. Thankfully his rifle was still attached to his back as he approached the ground, the magnetic holster holding onto the metal rifle tightly as possible as Carter braced for impact, his muscles tensing and his eyes watching as the ground got closer and closer to his body.

"This is going to hurt!" Carter yelled as his falling body approached a large forest, his armor locking once again as he felt the first tree strike his armored shell of a body. The tree's branches breaking and snapping under his weight as he broke through even the thickest of branches due to the weight of his armor.

He let out grunt after grunt as he felt the weight of the tree's branches strike his chest, each of them scraping at the titanium plates of his armor but thankfully not breaking through his armor though as the pain in his chest caused by that light continued to throb painfully in his chest as he looked down and saw a symbol now etched into his chest with some strange words that he could barely make out with his blurry vision.

Carter felt one last branch snap as he approached the ground, his body slamming into the dirt as the land seemed to explode around him. The air was pushed out of his lungs as he heard dirt slowly begin raining down on his back, his armor letting out a low whine as he rolled over onto his back, a white light causing his eyes to sting as he felt his consciousness begin to slip from him once again.

" **What the hell have I gotten into?"** Thought Carter as he slowly slipped from the conscious world once again, the last thought going through his head was the throbbing pain he felt throbbing in his chest. **"What the fuck did you do to me Palapon ?"**

 **Imperial Capital**

Emperor Molt sat on his throne, looking down at the squabbling senate as they argued amongst one another. It had been two days since they had managed to rally enough soldiers from the lords of the land and sent them to their deaths at the hands of these unknown invaders that seemed to be so daring as to attack the empire.

Once again the empire was threatened and he had to take control lest he lose all he had worked for. **"No."** He thought to himself, he would not allow these upstarts to take over all he had worked for, he would not allow them to invade his home and take the land that was his right by conquest, he had built his empire from the ground up and he would not let it be ripped away from him, not while he had so much work to do, he still had to grow and expand, wiping out all forms of resistance to his rule which he had been fairly successful in doing thanks to this new enemy but now they threatened to throw a wrench into the cogs of his great empire, destroying it once and of all.

He had already appealed to the local lords in an attempt to beat the invaders now camped upon the holy hill of Alnus, but they had been cut down by the enemies magic and those who survived either returned home, took up lives as bandits or were taken prisoner by the enemy force. That got rid of one thorn in Molt side, since many of the lords had been secretly resisting his rule ever since he came to power so getting rid of them got rid of a future problem. But with one problem gone a new problem presented itself to him, the fact that the enemy force that numbered just under twenty thousand men and woman, somehow managed to fight off a force of one hundred and twenty thousand of the best men in the imperial lands.

" **That damn magic, they have must be very powerful indeed."** Molt thought as he caressed his the stubble that lay on his chin. The offensive had cost the empire most of its military advantage and if there was one thing Molt hated more than anything it was to be put on the defensive by an enemy he knew next to nothing about.

But this was the art of waging a war, if he could get just a few men into their camp maybe he could capture a few of their weapons and recreate them for the empire, that would secure his rule for generations to come. The ability to make the ground tear itself asunder, such a weapon would discourage all who would dare to challenge his rule. The senate, rebels and lords would have no choice but to bow to his every wish or fear his wrath tearing their homes and land apart at his will.

He would be the most powerful ruler in the land, but after sending a united army against this enemy they would be on full alert like an animal backed into a corner. But maybe if he let them get comfortable enough to let some locals in he could plant a few informants and have them capture some of those weapons for him.

" **Maybe this could work to my advantage."** He thought to himself with a slight grin, this enemy force could be used to wipe out the senate and firmly establish him as the defacto ruler of the empire with final say in all things whether they be military or not, but he had to be careful if the people found out he was scheming this there would be a rebellion over night so he had to manage this as carefully as he could, luckily Molt was nothing but an excellent schemer at heart all he needed to do was poke and prod in the right places and this new enemy would bow to his every whim, they would attack who he pleased and in the end he would have their miracle weapons then he would throw them away like a used handkerchief when he gained enough power to throw them off Alnus hill himself.

This new force was not to be trifled with to much though as they seemed to have many magicians both in the air on their massive iron dragons that seemed to fly faster than sound itself and on the ground, from the reports Molt was hearing from the surviving forces these men and woman had managed to make the ground explode under the allied forces and fire magic shoot from these strange staffs, maybe he could have a few smaller night raids conducted on their base or have a few soldiers pose as locals in need of help if the enemy let them in he could kidnap a few of their more high ranking officers and hold them for ransom.

"Emperor Molt." A voice cut through Molts thoughts as he looked up and saw his steward standing at the side of the grand staircase that led to his throne. "What should we do about this new enemy, the nations will not give us any more men since those they sent are either refusing to fight anymore or abandoning their posts as we speak."

Molt grinned as a plan began to form in his head. "It is all going according to plan, these new enemies have driven our only rivals into ruin." Molt said with a hint of amusement in his voice as he thought of how his would be rivals were taking the news they must have been getting from their own runners. "Send a message to all villages within the empire, they are to evacuate, burn all crops and poison all wells, let us see what our new enemy arm does then when they cannot even feed their own."

The steward grinned. "They will be stalled before they can even reach the capital of our holy empire, my lord." He said with a bow. "This will leave them very vulnerable." The stewards expression seemed to change as he thought about something. "What about defectors and the loss of tax revenue my lord?"

Molt laughed and nodded. "Defectors, you say?"

The steward nodded with a grim expression. "There are motions within the senate to have you recalled, beginning with duke Casel."

Molt laughed once again, a bit longer this time as light streamed in from the glass windows behind his throne casting shadows from the many pillars that dotted the room in near perfect straight lines that led right to his throne. "Then this will be a great time to wipe out the senate in one swoop, let us order the council to investigate."

"Father!" A female voice cut him off as Molt heard the sound of the door opening to his throne room, looking up he saw his daughter walking inside, her boots letting out muffled clacks as they hit the marble that lay under the red carpet leading to his throne, her red hair swaying behind her as she walked briskly towards him and the steward.

"My daughter, what do you need?." Molt asked in a low voice as he watched her stop in front of his throne, his daughter giving him a slight bow. Of all of his children Molt cared for his daughter the most, she had always respected his judgement and took his council whenever she asked for it, unlike his brute of a son who enjoyed to stay in his chambers all day, fucking that rat of a rabbit girl. **"She will one day be the death of him."** Molt thought as he watched Pina look, her back straightening as she spoke.

"It's about Alnus of course." Pina said with a hint of worry in her voice as she looked into her father's eyes, the steward looked up as he bowed his dissatisfaction clear on his face as he watched the princess closely as she continued to speak to Molt. "I have just learned of the allied armies defeat and that the empires, holy ground Alnus hill is occupied by some strange enemy forces."

Pina's face seemed to harden as she spoke, her tone even turning harder as she looked directly at Molt. "What are you doing at a time like this?" She asked.

The steward interrupted before Molt could speak on his own. "We will use this opportunity to take back the hill." He said in an almost mocking tone as he watched Pina.

She turned to face him, her eyes betraying her anger. "What complacency!" She yelled forcing the steward to take a step back from her. "That will not stop an enemy invasion!" She continued.

Molt interrupted before she could continue though. "Pina, I fear you are correct in this matter." Molt said to calm his daughter down a bit as she turned and bowed as he spoke to her. "We were far too ignorant regarding the enemy that occupies Alnus hill, but this presents a perfect opportunity." Molt said another part of his perfect plan forming in his head. "Can I ask that you and your order to scout the enemy position and report back to me your findings."

Pina seemed surprised as she looked at him. "M-me… with my order?" She stuttered.

"Indeed." Molt replied as he leaned forward on the carved stone armrest of his throne, grinning slightly as he added the extra icing on the cake. "Unless your order is more than your plaything, of course."

Pina gasped, she looked like she was about to say something but held back as she got down on one knee in front of Molt as he sat up. "I understand, your majesty." She said in a much dryer tone as Molt let his grin widen a bit, just because he loved her didn't mean he didn't have to toy with her feelings to get what he wanted from time to time.

For now he needed to figure out the rest of his plans and figure out where his son's loyalties truly lay, because if that boy thought he was in control of his great nation, than he would have another thing coming to him.

 **Lieutenant Itami - UNSC Forward Operating Base**

Itami stood at attention in front of Colonel Miller and Captain Edward Buck as the two officer's deliberated with each other on what to do about their new unusual situation, it'd been a few weeks since the offending military force decided to attack the UNSC survivors of Reach, only to be beaten back by their superior firepower and tactics. It had been a massive slaughter with only a small portion of the enemy force being taken prisoner, they hadn't put up much of a fight after they were captured and the ONI spooks began to work their magic on them, injecting truth serums, beating and waterboarding them as they attempted to extract as much information about their planets country, language, politics and economy from them, but they weren't treating them to unfairly for their cooperation the ONI spooks began giving them rewards such as food, water, clothing and some housing they had managed to set up in the quiet since the attack, the way one ONI spook described it, chilled Itami's bones to the core he had heard the stories of ONI interrogation before of course, everyone in the marine corps had.

But to see and hear it first hand was enough to make even the most hardened veteran turn green, it had been different when it was the covenant soldiers, they weren't human for one so you couldn't identify with them very easily and the fact that they had attacked first made it seem almost like payback to Itami. But once they started doing it to fellow human soldiers who had just been following the orders of their commanders

"You have to think of them as dogs, they get hurt when they do something bad and don't cooperate and when they do a good thing they get a reward and praise. Soon enough if you get them to believe you are just trying to help them and look out for their best interests then they will give up anything." The spook had explained.

but Itami had to admit it seemed to be working as soon they began to build a small dictionary of the enemy's language and economic structure or at least a rough estimate as the soldiers were not as bright as most UNSC marines, even before they went through basic training. Once they had a rough translation of the enemy's language the Admiral began ordering the marines to learn as much as they could as they planned out the deep recon missions to explore the countryside and the towns the soldiers told them were nearby. Itami couldn't help but feel excited as Colonel Miller and Captain Buck turned to him, he hoped to be put on one of the deeper recon teams in charge of exploring those towns, the situation while not wonderful dredged up the young boy inside of the marine, reminding him of the old stories of humanity discovering the unknown deep in space and strange alien planets with species that humanity had never heard of.

He only hope that the humans they had been holding were not the only species on the planet, otherwise it would be boring as hell and a slog to go to every town with no interesting people or animals. "Lieutenant Itami." Colonel Miller said as Itami stood at attention, looking the man in the eye and hiding his childlike wonder as he responded.

"Yes sir."

"You are aware of the Admirals plans to form several deep recon teams to explore the area farther away from our territory and meet the local populace?" Miller asked as he looked down at the papers in his hands before looking back at the Lieutenant, his eyes piercing into the younger man's as he read Itami's face.

"Yes sir, I am aware of it." Itami said as he looked back at the man, knowing the the older commander was challenging his resolve and judging his capabilities for the mission. Miller smiled and laughed as Itami stood there with a slight grin on his face, knowing that the man knew that he knew what he was doing.

"The I am happy to give you the job of commanding the third recon team, you will be in charge of reconing the town know as Coda and meeting the villages elder, gauge their reaction to our presence and begin to establish some sort of relation to them, but if you are engaged by any imperial soldiers you have clearance to mop them up."

Itami smiled and gave Miller a firm salute as he looked forward, grinning like an idiot as Miller motioned for him to be at ease, the older man sighing as if he were about to deliver some news he did not want to. "Now there is one last thing."

"Yes sir?"

"The admiral will be joining you on this mission, he feels it necessary to introduce our leadership to the locals and give them some sort of assurance that we aren't going to attack them unless they side with these imperial forces that seem to be so fond of us."

Itami gaped slightly before regaining his composure, the admiral joining his recon team was far more than he had first expected and was completely out of the blue, he thought the Spartan would rather stay at the base and coordinate their movements from there.

"Is there a problem Lieutenant, the admiral requested this himself." Miller said as he looked Itami in the eye again.

"No sir, it was just surprising that's all." Itami managed to stutter, causing Miller to laugh as he looked at Captain Buck.

"The admiral is a Spartan lieutenant he will be able to pull his own weight, now is your mission clear?"

Itami nodded before saluting again with more confidence. "Yes sir!"

"Then you are dismissed." Miller said before saluting and allowing the younger man to leave the tent, leaving Miller to coordinate the recon teams with captain Buck.

"I hope the admiral knows what he's doing." Buck said with a worried but hushed tone as he looked back through the flap of the tent, watching Itami as he strolled towards recon group three's warthogs.

Miller shook his head and grinned at the relatively new Captain. "You underestimate a Spartan Captain, I'm sure he can take care of himself, while I agree with you on some level I also understand that Six is a Spartan at heart and gets things done better in the field, not behind a chair trapped in the ship, let him stay in the field we will just have to pick up the slack where he falters a bit."

Buck shook his head. "I have no doubt he can, but he gives the marines here hope and is part of the reason why havent had a complete revolt by now, he rescued these men and women from certain death and if he is killed then I fear it will all fall apart."

Miller chuckled. "Then we better make sure the son of a bitch stays alive then." Miller then slapped Buck on the back with his trademark grin plastered all over his face. "Besides you and I both know captain, that Spartans never die, they are just missing in action."

Buck laughed as well slapping Miller on the back as the two of them looked down at the blueprints the two of them had been studying before Itami had walked in, on the blue paper laid plans for a large base of operations. "Now where should we put the AA guns?" Buck asked as he looked at the older Colonel.

 **5 minutes later**

Itami looked dumbfounded as he watch Noble Six, Spartan-III and current acting admiral of the remaining UNSC forces they had load equipment onto their warthogs with Roy. the two of them were currently packing boxes of rocket ammo which they needed to defend themselves from any dragon attacks, that was something Itami wanted to avoid on this mission he had been setting up a tent when that big red dragon attacked and he almost pissed himself when he saw it land near their base and again when it took several pelican rockets to take make it flee from their base.

Roy had put it in the best words while they had been fighting the dragon with their small arms. "This is one bitch that I don't want to wake up near." The man had yelled with a grin as he let off another few rounds from a M37A assault rifle.

Itami felt himself chuckling slightly as he watched Roy place a box containing several hundred rounds of M37A ammunition in the back cab of the troop transport warthog, only to get a disapproving look from the expressionless visor of Noble Six when he failed to secure it properly. He had no idea how that man managed to get through basic training, he was either one lucky son of a bitch or had so much blackmail on the training officer's that they pushed him through no problem, either way Itami was glad to have the company or else he might have grown to used to the peace and quiet.

Standing up Itami slowly began to walk towards the recon teams warthogs the soft grass below his feet sinking in slightly as his heavy boots stepped on the land with soft crunches, the UNSC's forward operating base was still bustling with activity as they had yet to set up a proper base of operations on this new planet, the sound of several excavator machines and combat tractors could be heard farther away as they dug pits to place their AA batteries into cover incase that red dragon decided to come knocking once again.

Mortar teams, scorpion tanks and rocket hogs had been placed strategically throughout the forest that surrounded them each one of them keeping a watchful eye for any enemy attack that could come, though from what he saw of the enemies weapons Itami doubted that would come in charging once again. No they weren't that stupid they would take their time and plan out the next attack which thankfully gave the UNSC time to dig in and hunker down for the next time.

The sound of a pelican roaring overhead drove Itami out of his thoughts as he looked up and watched the dropship carrying an remote AA gun into a part of the forest they had managed to clear out substantially. The pilot maneuvering the dropship as he brought it down below the tree line before letting the AA battery go. "We shouldn't be caught off guard anymore." Said a female voice coming up behind Itami as he turned around.

He saw Chris walking towards him an SRS-99 rifle slung over he shoulder as she grinned. "Yeah." Itami chuckled at the woman's enthusiasm, when Roy wasn't bugging her she wasn't a total pain in the ass. "You sure you don't want to take something small Chris, the natives might not want to come near you with that big ass rifle in your hands."

Chris laughed her face turning red as she bent over slightly, using the massive rifle as a crutch as she looked up at Itami. "Now, now Itami this here is my boomstick and I won't leave her behind no matter what happens."

"You won't leave it behind sergeant?" Itami asked already knowing the answer to the question even before he asked it.

"Not even if you ordered me to sir, me and my baby go everywhere if I am going behind enemy lines then she is coming with me, I bet she wants to get a taste of the local soldiers." Chris replied in a mocking tone, cradling the rifle close to her as she grinned at Itami. "No one parts me from her."

"Your like Roy and his shotgun." Itami muttered as he turned around and shook his head.

"What the hell did you just say, sir!?"

Itami looked back at her and grinned as he kept walking. "Nothing sergeant, carry on with stowing your gear away, we are leaving in five." Itami ordered as a scorpion tank passed by them, the roar of the engine drowning out what Itami assumed were a stream of colorful words coming from the sergeants mouth.

" **She's lucky she doesn't get court martialed."** Itami thought as Chris stomped off in the other direction, her boots kicking up a lot of dust as Itami couldn't help but chuckle again as another pelican flew overhead, with two falcons escorting the dropship to her destination, Itami saw that the back door to the dropships blood tray was open, revealing its load of two squads of ODST's one of them position precariously on the edge of the open door, Itami knew were those men were going the admiral had ordered night ops to be operated on the remnants of any enemy forces that remained scattered nearby, most gave up without a fight but those who did resist were summarily executed on the spot, they left the bodies far away from the UNSC camp and the prying eyes of civilians, it was brutal but effective in driving down the moral of any who wanted to take revenge on the UNSC for their losses at this hill they all seemed so infatuated with.

" **It's too bad the admiral and colonel restricted the recon teams access to those, would make traveling a lot easier."** He thought as he shook his head, unfortunately both the admiral and colonel had decided that the pelicans and falcons would cause too much of a stir in the native population for now and as such they would be restricted to surveillance from afar where they could not be seen and combat missions, Itami knew that more than a few of the flyboys had been upset about that order, a lot of them wanted to get out and use the free airspace for some combat practice.

Itami kept on strolling towards the front of the three vehicle convoy watching as Roy finished stowing the gear with the admiral the warthog bouncing slightly as he stepped on the side of the vehicles open driver seat before sitting down on the hard leather. "Fuck couldn't we get better seats, I mean how much does leather really cost the military!" The man whined in an almost comical fashion as he started up the warthogs engine as Itami clambered up onto the back of the hog and onto the gunner position, pulling back on the massive bolt that lay on the side of the weapon to position its large shell in place in the barrel as he looked down the sights to make sure they were calibrated properly, the hydraulics in the gun whining as he moved it from left to right, checking to see if the system that allowed the gun to move in a three hundred and sixty degree rotation was working.

"What do you think sir, think the admiral will give us better seats if we ask?" Roy asked as he looked up at the lieutenant with a shit eating grin.

"Better chance of a court martial for asking Roy." Itami replied as he moved up the bed from behind the gun and over the driver seat giving Roy a small kick in the back of the head, causing the man to let out a grunt before looking back at Itami with a death glare, to which Itami responded with a shrug.

"The seats allow the warthog to be lighter and faster when in motion." Said a monotone voice that caused Itami jump as he looked to his side, the admiral seemed to just appear at the side door of the warthog as he stepped onto the side step, before lifting himself and his armor up and into the side seat next to a very flustered Roy.

"Y-yes sir." Roy stuttered as Noble Six sat down beside him. "You secured back there Ita- Lieutenant?" Roy asked catching himself on that last part as Itami chuckled and gave him the ok signal, Roy quietly flipping Itami the bird as the admiral looked at a tacpad.

"Convoy this is Noble Six how copy." The admiral's voice came in over the comm in Itami's ear.

"This is Metal 0-1 and 1-1 on standby." Itami reported over the comm as Roy listened and gave him the ok signal.

"Metal 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 and 1-5 on standby, ready to rock and roll out of here sir." Itami heard Chris's voice crackle over the comm.

"This is Metal 1-6, 1-7 and 1-8 on standby and ready to go." gunnery sergeant Fredrick reported last.

There was a slight pause before Noble Six spoke. "Convoy, move out." He ordered over the comm as Roy began driving forwards to the outskirts of the large clearing they currently occupied and towards the path they had carved out that led towards the road.

"Hopefully we will get farther than fifty feet this time." Chris commented as Itami's warthog drove by a roadblock made of several sandbag piles and some heavy machine guns manned by some marines who nodded at them as they passed through and Roy hit the gas as the convoy made its way into the woods.

 **On the next episode.**

" **Rory Mercury… ."**

 **And that's all you're getting.**


	6. Chapter 6: Attack Of The Fire Dragon 2

"Regular Speech in english."

" _GATE Speech in whatever they speak."_

" **Thoughts."**

 **Just wondering do you guys really want me to continue this story, be as honest as you need to be.**

 **For all of you who wish to know I am currently up to date on the anime and I am reading through the manga, I would read the novels if they were translated since I would rather read the original source material but to my disappointment a lot of it is not translated on the site I usually read novels on so I have to just make do. If you can point me to a translated version of the novels that would be awesome.**

 **Also recently started watching this anime called infinite stratos, can anyone tell me if it gets good.**

 **Also remember to read and review, if you don't then you will never see Rory get with Six XD, that is if I end up doing that X3 I tease, I tease but please review.**

 **Carter**

" _...?"_ A voice pierced through Carter's unconsciousness speaking a language he did not recognize, a pain throbbing in his chest as he slowly woke up, keeping perfectly still as his armor systems booted up once again, his suit letting out a low whine as the shields came up.

" _..."_ Another voice said in the same language, Carter watched as his HUD finally booted up, wiping the dirt off of his golden polarized visor as he looked around, what he saw confused the hell out of him.

He saw two humanoid looking creatures one male and one a younger looking female with pointed ears and blonde hair looking down at him with worried expressions, the male looked the most worried as he pointed what looked like an ancient looking sword directly at Carter's neck, before speaking again.

"I'm sorry what." Muttered Carter, his voice filtering through the mic in his helmet causing the female to jump a bit as Carter stood up, the male still pointing his sword at him as Carter felt his armor systems begin to reboot, the weight of the thousand pound suit lessening as power was restored to all of the systems.

" _...!"_ The male attempted to speak with Carter again likely not realizing the language barrier between the two men as Carter put his hands up.

"Hey, hey let's calm down I can't understand….." Carter was interrupted by a feeling traveling through his gut, it was a sharp pain that made Carter tear his helmet off as he felt bile fill his mouth before expelling out of his mouth onto the green grass below. The bile was filled with shrapnel that was covered in his blood, which worried Carter as he finished by letting out a few dry coughs before looking back at the two creatures as they stared at him dumbfounded.

" _Sorry."_ Apologized Carter who then immediately clapped his mouth shut as he spoke. **"What the hell just happened?"** He thought, he didn't know how to speak these people's language yet here he was speaking it like he was born on this strange planet.

" _Are you alright apostle?"_ Asked the male humanoid with a concerned sounding voice as he looked over Carter and his armor, as if trying to deduce the purpose of the mjolnir from sight alone.

That word set off some alarms in Carter's head almost immediately, it had been the thing Palapon called him in his dream, or at least what he thought was a dream. _"I-I'm fine, but what the hell do you mean, apostle?"_ Carter asked as he looked at the humanoid with eyebrows raised as he looked at the male dubiously, slowly reaching for the combat knife strapped to his hip.

" _W-well the symbol on your chest, you're the apostle of Palapon are you not?"_ The humanoid male asked with a worried voice as he held the female back from helping Carter as he spat out one last bit of shrapnel.

" _What symbol?"_ Carter asked as he looked down at his chest plate, there it was a symbol that Carter did not recognize from his time in Spartan training. It appeared to be a triangle with a small circle in the middle of it and three lines extending from the triangle's three points that connected to an outer circle surrounding the triangle. _"What the hell?"_ Carter said again, confused as to how Palapon managed to burn the symbol into the refined titanium plates of his armor.

" _Are you sure you are ok apostle of Palapon?"_ The man asked again the concern radiating through his voice as Carter traced the symbol with his gauntleted hands.

" _Y-yeah, I'm fine just, this is kind of new to me."_ Carter said with an almost tired voice as he felt the days of exhaustion and being on the run weigh down on his back, causing his body to shake slightly though you couldn't tell unless you knew what to look for as the Spartan stood back up and replaced his helmet.

Carter had no idea where he was as his HUD booted back up for the second time today, he attempted to bring up the map on his HUD but was unable to connect to any nearby UNSC satellites, though he doubted any were around. From what he could tell by the clothing these people were wearing and their distinct features that separated them from the humans he was used to seeing as well as the sword and bow the male was carrying, these people likely did not have technology anywhere close to the UNSC, it appeared they were still in their middle ages period well before the industrial revolution and possibly thousands of years from spaceflight if they followed earths speed of advancement. He needed to get to the frigate that went down near by here and retrieve the emergency beacon so he could contact any UNSC forces that were nearby so they could come pick him up.

" _You…..you really have no idea what an apostle is do you ?"_ The male creature finally spoke, his voice filled with disbelief as if he could not fathom that Carter could not no this detail.

" _I just recently arrived, so no I do not know what an apostle is though I have my suspicions."_ Carter replied with a monotone voice as he watched the man through his helmet's visor, watching as the man looked into his golden visor as if trying to see past the piece of reflective glass into Carter's eyes to see if he was telling the truth.

" _Well."_ The man said as if finally deciding upon what to say. _"I believe I can better explain this at my house, if you wish."_

Carter weighed his options in his head as he watched the man, looking for any signs of ill intent coming from his body language. He needed to get to the downed frigate so he could contact the UNSC, but help could be a very long way away and having some info on the world he was currently occupying could prove useful if he needed to contact any other of the local populace for food or information. _"Very well, lead the way."_ Carter replied after making up his mind, nodding at the man and woman as the man smiled a bit before pointing at the younger looking girl.

" _This is my daughter, Tuka Luna Marceau, I am Hodor Marceau and we welcome you to our land apostle of Palapon."_ The man said with a slight bow and a hint of fear in his voice as he spoke the name Palapon, Carter put that little fact into the back of his memory so he could ask Hodor later.

" _Name's Carter."_ Carter replied plainly.

" _Any family name apostle Carter?"_ Hodor asked curiously.

" _No."_ Carter replied as Hodor raised his eyebrow before shaking his head and smiling at Carter, his eyes closing slightly as he did.

" _Then why don't you follow me and my daughter back to our village, we attempt to explain your new position to you."_ Hodor replied as he turned around and motioned to Tuka to follow as Carter walked behind the two, his eyes staring intently at their ears for a few minutes before he noticed Tuka staring at him. Carter turned his head towards her, his helmet making the motion very noticeable as he turned his eyes towards Tuka who looked away with a slight blush as they continued walking through the forest the sounds of the birds chirping and the bugs whizzing by his helmeted head as twigs crunched under the boots of his heavy armor. Carter had to admit this place was a natural paradise as he looked around and watched as animals watched them from afar and avoided coming close to them, for they knew they would die if they did.

" _What is that thing on your back Carter?"_ As Hodor as he kept walking forward through the thick underbrush of the forest, cutting through the thickest parts of the brush with his sword as Carter watched his motion sensor for anyone that would try to sneak up on them.

" _It is my weapon."_ Carter replied as he kept a slow pace behind the two humanoids, though he knew he could run faster than this he had no idea where he was going to he kept a slower pace and allowed the two to lead the way through the seemingly never ending forest. Then they came to a small hunting path that appeared to be well worn, with many different footprints both old and new dotting the path as they walked along.

Carter heard the voices of people long before they arrived at the village, thanks to his augmented hearing. For a while that was all he could do was hear them until he finally looked up and saw why, the village Hodor had been speaking of was nestled above ground in the tree's, wooden huts dotted the tree's connected by a series of catwalks and rope bridges that looked well taken care of judging by the shape they were in. He looked forwards again, keeping his eyes trained on his new companions as they walked up a spiral staircase leading up towards a rather large looking house. Hodor was first the wood creaking slight under his feet as he looked back and smiled at Tuka, his daughter was next as she followed close behind her father, looking back at Carter with an almost frightened expression as he tentatively took a step forward onto the wooden steps, hoping that the weight of his armor didn't break the hand crafted stairwell that looked like it would take ages to repair.

The wood let out what sounded like an annoyed shriek as Carter put his weight on it, causing Hodor to look back at him curiously as Carter took another step forward. Thankfully the wood refused to break under his weight as he began to walk up the steps more confidently now, the floor still squealing slightly under his weight as he followed Hodor and Tuka up into what he assumed was their home as he reached the front door, which Hodor opened to reveal a rather plainly decorated home inside with a couch near the window, what looked like a small kitchen the the corner and a table in the center.

" _Please sit."_ Hodor says with a smile as he walks towards the table, pulling out a chair at the head of the table before sitting down.

" _I'm good, sorry my armor is to heavy."_ Carter replied as he took off his helmet once again, holding it under his arm as Hodor studied his face.

" _Then why don't you take it off?"_ Hodor asked as he clasped his hands on the table.

" _The armor requires special machines to take off in its entirety."_ Carter replied as he stared back into the humanoid creatures expression, as if daring him to challenge the answer that while not completely true was true enough in Carter's mind, his armor was his second skin and asking him to remove it was like asking him to run around naked in the middle of a gun fight.

But Hodor seemed to accept this answer without question which was surprising to Carter as he stood at the other end of the table. _"Tuka please bring our guest a drink, he must be thirsty."_ Hodor said with a smile as Tuka smiled and scampered off in her green outfit as Hodor looked back at him. _"So what's your story, my friend?"_ Hodor asks with a smile as he leans forward and waits for Carter's response.

" **Where to start."** Thought Carter as he looked back at Hodor for a few seconds not saying anything as he thought of what to put in and what to leave out, so he didn't confuse these primitive species of humanoids. _"I am from a land a long way from here, that we called Reach."_

Hodor raised an eyebrow. _"Reach, I never heard of it, is it outside the empire ?"_ Hodor asked curiously as he watched Carter intently.

" _Yes, it's extremely far away from the empire though I do not know which direction to go from here."_ Carter replied as he heard Tuka come back from what he assumed was a well, his augmented hearing allowing him to hear her before she even got into the house.

" _And you appear to be a soldier or a mercenary on top of being an apostle, are you?"_

Carter nodded. _"I am a soldier."_ He replied plainly as the man nodded.

" _And what type of war requires you to wear such massive and heavy armor at all times?"_

Carter sighed as he flashed back to his death on Reach, watching the covenant plasma beams that had been burned into his mind's eye he swore he could hear the screams of the marines caught in the blast zones of the beams as they attempted to take shelter in anything that could possibly save them from a lonely death. _"We are at war and have been for about thirty years now, with a religious faction bent on our destruction and the destruction of all humans."_ Carter replied solemnly, looking down at the floor in a rare display of emotion as he was reminded of all they had lost in the war against the covenant. _"Reach had been destroyed the last I had seen, me and my team had been trying to get an important package to one of our ships, I only hope they made it."_ The last part wasn't really for Hodor, it was more for Carter himself as he came to accept what had happened to the planet many Spartans had called their home, now all he could do was keep Six and Emile in his prayers and try to make it back to UNSC space as soon as possible.

As Carter looked back at Hodor he could see an expression of sadness in the humanoid males face as he digested the information that Carter just told him as Tuka finally came into the house after spending a few moments listening in onto the two mens conversation, Carter could see some tears forming in her eyes as she set down two wooden cups of water. He didn't blame her even if she hadn't seen what he had seen, knowing that somewhere an entire land had been destroyed would be shocking news to anyone. He nodded at the younger looking girl as he picked up the cup from the table, drinking down the cool liquid in a few gulps as Hodor watched him curiously as Tuka walked off to what he assumed was her room.

" _I am sorry for this, I had no idea."_ Hodor replied with more sadness in his voice and his face turning soft as he looked at a man who just lost everything once dear to him.

" _It is fine, I have come to deal with it in the last few weeks but I would like to get to my questions now."_ Carter replied with a cold expression, unwilling to allow any emotion to appear on his face as he spoke.

Hodor nodded, his face no longer smiling as he let out a short sigh. _"What do you wish to know apostle?"_ He asked with a grim expression now clearly plastered on his face.

" _Where am I? for starters."_ Carter asked as he stood rock steady in front of the man.

" _You are currently in the land of Falmart and to be more specific the forest know as Koan, this land is currently under the rule of the imperial emperor Molt and the imperial military, who rule the land with an iron fist."_ Hodor explained as Carter nodded along, allowing the information to be stored in his head for later use.

" _And what is your species? you do not appear to be human if your ears are anything to go by."_

Hodor looked surprised as Carter asked this question as if it were inconceivable that he had not accountered his race before hand. _"Were there no elves in this land of Reach?"_ He asked curiously.

" _No there were only humans."_ Carter could hear a gasp come from Tuka's room as he assumed the girl was still listening in on the conversation as Carter stood there. _"I am guessing your part of this race?"_

" _Me and my entire village are of a race known as high elves, renowned for our long lives and spirit magic."_ This perked Carter's curiosity, from the way Hodor spoke of it there were more sub species of elves out there and possibly other creatures that he would need to defend against and inform UNSC highcom about, he would need to gather as much information he could. But that last part really surprised him, Magic? the elf had to be pulling Carter's leg with some kind of joke, the UNSC had never found any proof of magic on any planet they had been on since the days of the first colony ships, to find something akin to magic on some random planet was next to impossible, there had to be a technological explanation to it.

" _How old are you?"_ Carter asked as he looked around the house, his eyes beginning to scan for any exit points he could use incase he needed to make a quick exit

" _I am currently five hundred and nineteen, my daughter is one hundred and sixty five."_

This drew Carter's attention back to the elf as he couldn't help but gape slightly his mouth forming a slight 'O' as he looked at the man who he had first assumed was younger then him in a new light. **"These people are older than the oldest humans in existence and they are still using bows and arrows?"** He thought to himself.

" _Last question."_ Carter said in a matter of fact tone, wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible. _"What the hell is an apostle?"_

Hodor was silent for a second or two as if searching for the words to describe what he had called Carter in the forest, finally finding the words Hodor began to speak again. _"An apostle is a servant of a god, you are the servant of the god who represents revenge who is known as Palapon, he has blessed you with long life and immunity to injury and when you reach one thousand years you may ascend to godhood yourself."_

Carter's eyebrow twitched as he heard the name Palapon, he thought it had just been a dream something that was produced by his mind before he died, but to hear it confirmed did not fill him with comfort. **"If I am his servant then how much control does he have over me."** He thought as he looked down at the symbol on his chest.

He was still bound to the UNSC through his Spartan training and education, but would this so called god be able to undermine that loyalty and turn him loose on the UNSC forces that may try to rescue him from this freak show of a planet. If this was the case he would most likely be declared compromised and be held in an ONI facility until they could figure out what happened to him by poking and prodding him, that was something he did not want to experience again, he had gotten enough of it during his time in Spartan training and during the augmentation process. But all that meant nothing if this god could control the way he thought and felt, though he had a hard time believing it was just simple magic, no it had to be nanomachines or something in the air that his suit couldn't detect just yet. something had to explain this planet's weirdness in a more logical fashion then magic.

As if sensing his question from the look on Carter's face Hodor bowed his head and began speaking again. _"As an apostle you can serve your own needs, but if your god calls upon you then the urge is too great to resist, your body will force you to serve."_

Carter nodded his mind reeling from this fact though his face said nothing at all in his expression as he spoke. _"I see."_ He said as he thought to himself, he would definitely be declared compromised now, part of him still wanted to go back to the UNSC now but, another part wanted to stay free of the shackles that undoubtedly would be placed on him when he got back home and ONI found out about his new predicament.

" _And you should not be surprised if people begin bowing to you after finding out who you are, Palapon is one of the major gods and people will pray to him through you when you are around and Palapons church will want to make you a high ranking member."_

That part surprised Carter but also opened up a new can of worms in his mind, if these people revered him in some religious fashion then if ONI found out about them they would want to use that to get as much information their hands could get and they would possibly want to know about the magic Hodor had mentioned to use it to further humanity's goals as well as their own and while he knew ONI had the best intentions in mind while conducting operations, he own existence as a Spartan was a testament to that fact, there would be a lot of needless deaths under their watch and a metric shit ton of red tape to get through. **"Shit what have I gotten myself into."** Thought Carter for the second time that day, he felt like a ton of bricks were weighing on his shoulders as he thought over every scrap of information he had been given since arriving here, he thought it best to find that downed frigate that had crashed then work from there and hope an opportunity presented itself.

" _Well I would like to thank you for the information, but I now must be going."_ Carter explained as he nodded at the elf man before replacing his helmet on his head.

" _Where will you go apostle? I thought your land was destroyed by that religious faction you spoke of."_

Carter nodded. _"That it was, but we controlled many lands before the war and it is possible that some may have survived."_ Carter winced as the white lie passed through his teeth, he knew deep in his chest that no one survived Reach in that last assault as the planet burned around them, any bunkers were probably burned through from the covenants plasma beams and if someone had been able to get to a ship they would have most likely been destroyed as they left the surface and attempted to make the random jump into slipspace that was required by Cole protocol. _"I must make it back to my people and let them know what happened, before they are all wiped out."_ Carter continued as he looked at the exit, ready to bolt to the door should Hodor get any ideas of him staying, but the elf man seemed to sense that Carter was anxious to leave because he nodded once again.

" _Then do not allow me to hold you here any longer apostle, just heed my warning Palapon can be devious and demented. He is obsessed with revenge and you would do well not to let that obsession drip into you."_ Hodor warned as Carter nodded, his military training at a young age had taught him that revenge meant nothing on the battlefield accept color a soldier's attitude and make them forget their training, making them a target that the enemy could exploit more easily. He would not allow himself to become a liability no matter what this so called god had to say, he would control his emotions and distance himself from the battle like his CO had taught him, thus was the way of the Spartan.

He nodded at Hodor, thanking him for his time before making his way out of the tree house, his feet moving as lightly as possible giving the circumstances as he made his way through the wooden doorway and over the edge of the balcony, his feet slamming into the ground with a resounding thump and a few snaps as he broke several twigs that had been hiding in the grass below the tree. Carter looked at the compass on his hud as he looked around, finding the marker he had placed when he had been watching the frigate as it crashed, before making his way in the direction of the crashed ship.

His boots crunched against the ground as he made his way out of the elven village, receiving stares from many of the residents as they watched him leave, whispering amongst themselves and shielding their children from him as he slung his M37A off his back and into his armor hands as he made his way to the outskirts of the forest town. Then once he was out of site, he began to run as fast as he could towards his new target, he heard several people gasp with his enhanced hearing that was amplified by his helmets outboard microphone as he sped off into the woods on only his feet. His suit regulated his body temperature and running speed so he didn't tear a tendon while in a full on sprint, but even then he reached speeds one could only reach in a car, his feet crunched against the soft ground as he weaved in between the tree's and jumped over large boulders that were in his way. Sliding under one particularly large fallen tree trunk, Carter managed to reach the edge of the forest the so called elves called their home.

Then he saw the frigate, it was just on the outskirts of the forest and was still smoking as Carter approached it from the far end of the clearing it had landed in, Carter held his gun at his side as he let out a low whistle. He knew it wouldn't look pretty up close but what he saw put a real downer on his hopes of finding an intact beacon. But Carter would not give up as he made his way towards the frigate, stepping over the remains of what used to be the ship's armor, Carter began to look around for survivors, though the prospect of finding one was slowly diminishing as he looked at the wreckage.

The engine pod that had been torn off was still smoking as he passed by it, thankfully it was not leaking radiation and if he had enough heavy equipment he could possibly move it back into place. But unfortunately he did not have the equipment necessary and he doubted he would find it in the ship as he stepped over another hulk of bent titanium armored plating that had been apart of the frigate's hull not to long ago.

Carter heard the sounds of birds chirping as he approached the ship, judging by the amount the hulk had settled it had been at least two days, maybe three since it had crashed with him onto this planet he was now trapped on. Luckily it appeared the locals hadn't gotten any ideas of trying to salvage any UNSC property from the wrecked ship, they were likely all scared shitless by it anyways probably thinking it was some feral beast sent down by their gods to destroy them all.

Carter walked around the perimeter of the ship, before spotting a relatively large hole in the armor he could pass through. The ship was dark as he stepped inside of it, only the emergency lighting was on as it cast a faint red glow that contrasted with his blue armor as he moved into the damaged hallway within the intersection of the nose of the ship. Carter switched his night vision on as he began to move forwards into the ship and towards the aft section of the vessel were the beacon was likely located as per UNSC storage regulations of emergency equipment, it was stored in the back were the armor of the frigate was the heaviest so it could be protected from the vacuum of space and enemy fire more effectively.

Carter made his way down the straight hallway that lead to a service elevator that would take him to the beacons storage area, he passed by several maintenance areas for the MAC gun as he walked down the narrow hallways that populated the underside of this section of the frigate. His boots thumped against the relatively unscathed titanium of the floor of the ship as Carter looked around a corner, his night vision allowing him to see what lay down the corridor. There were bodies everywhere, strewn across the ground like a child's toys as Carter stepped over the broken corpses of the marines who must have been killed during the crash or from exposure to the vacuum of space when the frigate was hit with covenant plasma fire.

Finally reaching the end of the corridor Carter found the service elevator, thankfully still powered by the small emergency generators that all elevators in UNSC ships possessed incase of emergencies like this one. He pressed the elevator call button of the wall near the door, Carter heard the grinding of the elevator as it began to descend down to his position. The pressure doors opened as the elevator arrived and Carter stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go up to the deck that held the emergency generator.

The damaged elevator let out a slight grinding noise, protesting against the weight the Spartan and his full suit of mjolnir armor before finally starting up the elevator shaft towards the deck with the emergency generator, the grinding noise from the elevator causing a bit of worry for Carter as he worried the elevator would fall to the bottom of the shaft. But eventually he made it to the deck, but only one of the sliding parts of the door opened for him. So he was forced to bash his way out of the elevator, the metal letting out high shrieks and whines as Carter bashed it in with his foot causing the metal to curl outwards.

Making his way out of the elevator Carter began to walk towards the emergency power room, his night vision still active as he checked his corners for any covenant that might have boarded before the ship crashed. He hoped some of the crew managed to get out before the ship crashed as he spotted several holes in the floor and walls, jumping over them as he made his way down the hall and hung a right into a sealed doorway that lead to the emergency power room. The door was still powered and sealed as Carter looked down at the keypad, entering his ONI access code Carter watched as the light on the door turned green and allowed him to enter.

Inside was a massive hydrogen generator, not enough to power the ship itself in it's entirety but it held just enough power to turn the lights and cargo bay doors back on for a while, as well as power the beacon Carter needed to escape this planet. But as he walked towards the generator he was suddenly hit by a shotgun blast that let out a resounding bang and took down half his shields.

Carter fell backwards as he heard a scream in hungarian and a terrified marine was soon on top of him with the muzzle of a shotgun pointed at his face, the only thing blocking him from eating lead was his visior which was thankfully still shielded as Carter moved quickly to regain control of the situation.

"szörnyeteg…..szörnyeteg!" The man yelled as he cocked back the pump of the shotgun before preparing to fire again. Carter jumped into action as he reached for the weapon with lightning fast reflexes, using his other hand to smack the man in the center of the face, nearly breaking his nose as he forced the shell shocked marine off of him, the shotgun in hand as the marine attempted to reach for his knife, but Carter was quick to discourage such an action as he kicked the man's hand before grabbing the knife and holding it as he cocked the pump back on the shotgun. Releasing the round already in the chamber to prove a point as the man blinked stunned, before putting his hands up and looking ready to piss himself.

"Elnézést uram, azt hittem szövetség." The man muttered in hungarian as Carter nodded, the man was obviously shocked and confused to find a Spartan pointing a weapon at him instead of the covenant he had been expecting.

"Is there anyone else here?" Carter asked in english as he lowered the weapon from the marines face, but keeping one hand on the trigger in case the shell shocked marine tried anything again.

"Y-yes." The marine answered quickly in accented english before calling out in hungarian into the darkness.

"Kijön…..Kijön." He called out as Carter heard the rustle of feet as he turned off his night vision and turned on the flashlight, located on the pump of the shotgun, the light illuminated the area in front of the marine. Carter was surprised to see a female marine and two male marines cowering in the corner their rifles clutched in their hands as they backed up into a corner looking terrified with the corpse of a naval officer lying in front of them.

"What the hell happened here." Carter muttered as he helped the man up, but before he could start asking questions Carter heard a roar as something passed over them.

 **Noble Six (Jason-B312)**

Jason felt the warthog bounce as the convoy passed over a pothole in the road as they passed by lush green grass and tree's. "We will want to take the next left." Lieutenant Itami reported over the radio as the warthog turned left towards a village the captured soldiers they had interrogated and once they had a basic translation of the locals language Jason had decided it was best to meet the locals and discourage any hostilities they may hold against the UNSC forces for defeating the imperial army sent to drive them off the hill.

He also wanted to follow up on some intel ONI had managed to get out of one of the soldiers in exchange for a safe place to stay, according to him many of the smaller towns and villages held a grudge against the empire due to the amount the empire taxed their lands and due to the fact that many of the young men from the poorer outer villages. Jason hoped to use that fact to turn the poorer citizens against the empire, maybe form a system of informants that they could use to influence this so called empire from within if peace talks went south and judging from what the less loyal soldiers had said, any peace talks would not get anywhere if their emperor had any say in it. So they would have to appeal to the senate, which apparently was the only organization that had the power to revoke the emperors decisions. Jason couldn't help but let out a sigh, he didn't want to play diplomat but he felt he had to, he was in charge of his men and he did not trust anyone else with such an important fact gathering mission, plus he was getting tired of the 'desk' work that he needed to do at the UNSC base.

"There should be a small hill up next, we will want to head right from there and then we should be at the village in about five mikes." Itami reported as he sat down in the gunner position of the gauss hog, his back leaning against the hydralic that allowed the heavy weapon to move vertically and take shots at enemy aircraft, or in the case of this planet any dragons that wanted a light snack and if that was the case they would get a meal of one hundred and thirty millimeters accelerated slug right down it's throat.

"Okay everyone, get ready. I want weapons out but not ready. The lieutenant and I will make first contact." Jason ordered over the built in comm in his helmet as they came into view of a small village that he assumed was the village the soldiers called Coda. It was small, smaller than even the smallest mountain village on Reach and the occupants of the village appeared to be scared out of their wits as the UNSC vehicles pulled up a few meters away from the village proper. Hoping out Jason had his M45 CAWS shotgun at the ready, cradling the weapon with both of his gauntleted hands as he began walking towards the village with his weapon pointed towards the ground as Lieutenant Itami walked along beside him.

The rest of the squad took up the position behind the two officers as they made their way towards the village, moving slowly and looking around for an ambush that could put their superiors in danger, rocks and dirt crunched under their armored boots as they walked. Jason watched the village carefully for anyone that might want to do them harm, but all he saw was frightened villagers taking cover in their houses and confused children looking out of their doorways at the strange people walking towards them.

Jason spotted one child looking at him terrified he gave her a little wave, but her mother pulled her back inside, giving the Spartan a terrified look before slamming the door. Jason shrugged and continued on as they made their way into the town, the rest of the squad taking up positions around them as to not look to threatening, but to also let the villagers know not to fuck with them as they looked around.

A few of the villagers began to make their way out slowly to meet the newcomers, they had their weapons at the ready as the villagers approached and began to try to speak to the marines, thankfully the ONI personnel managed to work in their rough translations into the translation devices they used for covenant ships, though unfortunately the mic for translation could only be fitted on full face helmets so only Jason could speak back properly, while the rest of the marines could only speak in broken, small portions of the language.

" _Who are you?"_

" _What are you doing here?"_ Asked the villagers as their voices filtered through the exterior mics of the marines and Spartan, the onboard computers in their armor translating the language for them as they spoke, worried expressions plastered across their faces as they looked over the marines and Spartan.

Jason stepped forward to begin to try to talk to the villagers, he only hoped that the translator worked well both ways. _"We are the United Nations Military, we mean you no harm, we only wish to speak to your leader."_ Jason managed to say through the translator, the mic in his helmet picking up his voice as the speakers on the outside of his helmet began to speak for him. Him, Colonel Miller and Captain Buck had decided to leave the space command portion of the UNSC out of the name they used with the locals, because they believed it would confuse them to hear space command as it did with the soldiers they detained back at base.

" _I've never heard of the United Nations, from where do you come?"_ Asked a woman holding a child in her arms as more and more people gathered round the UNSC marines and their Spartan commander.

Jason spoke in as calming a voice as he could manage through the speakers in his helmet, the villagers having to look up at him due to his massive height as he spoke. But before he could get another word off a old man came sauntering through the crowd with a balding top of his head and grey hair on the sides of his head. _"Would like to know where you come from as well?"_ The old man asked as the villagers allowed him his space, he was obviously an important man that had the villagers respect either due to age or accomplishment, Jason was sure he would find out.

" _Who are you?"_ Asked Jason through his translator as Lieutenant Itami began to try to answer the rest of the villagers questions with the translation book.

" _I am Noble Six, admiral of the UN military and current commander of our forces here."_ Jason replied as he looked down at the older man. **"So this is the village elder, certainly looks old enough."** Jason thought as the older man began to speak.

" _Admiral? I don't know what that rank means."_ The man said in a questioning voice as if he did not believe what Jason was saying.

" _I am the commander of our forces in this country."_ Jason answered as he put his weapon onto his back, the magnetic holster holding the weapon on Jason's back as the villagers stared at it mesmerized by the simple magnet as Jason continued speaking to the village elder.

" _I see, so you are the group the empire has said appeared on Alnus hill?"_ The elder asked a hunt of worry in his voice as he looked around.

" _Yes. Is that a problem?"_ Jason inquired making sure to note the man's reaction as he spoke.

The man sighed. _"My village and I hold no love for the empire, they have ordered us to poison our wells and burn our crops to stop you but we refused and thankfully were left alone, but let me warn you, do not drink the water in any abandoned village."_ The elder said with grim expression as Jason nodded.

" _Thank you for the information. are there any other villages near by we should know about?"_ Jason asked as the elder looked up at him.

" _Do you have a map?"_

Jason nodded as he motioned for Itami to come towards the two of them with the map, the lieutenant showing the elder the different points on the map and explaining them in a more broken version of the man's language as he read it from the book. The man was nodding along seemingly getting the gist of it as he pointed out several blank points on the map and allowed Itami to fill in what they were.

Soon Jason and the marines were heading back off on their recon mission, waving back at the villagers as they yelled goodbye and thank you for coming to the marines as they made their way back to their vehicles sped off down the road. The elder had told them about a village some species called elves inhabited down the road in a forest. Unfortunately for the crew of the convoy sergeant Roy decided to take up singing some song from a show that Jason did not recognize as they drove along the dirt road an act which quickly earns the sergeant a smack in the back of his head from Itami as they drove along, the warthogs passing over pothole after pothole in the poorly managed country road and as the sun began to set on the dirt road, causing the grass and sky to mix together in a majestic display of color, Fredrick spotted something.

"Smoke at three o'clock." Gunnery Sergeant Frederick reported over the comm, putting everyone in the convoy on high alert as they heard a massive roar crack through the air, quickly turning off the road as the other warthogs followed along behind them Roy sped towards a cliff edge, stopping before it was too late.

They saw the source of the commotion and fire, before them lay a massive fire dragon that was spewing flames into the forest below, before letting out another mighty roar before spewing another massive amount of flames. "Sir, this is the forest the Coda villager elder was talking about." Itami said as he looked down at the map.

"Well shit, someone needs to call the fire brigade." Roy commented as he hefted his shotgun onto his shoulder as he looked over the complete devastation caused by the fire dragon as it flew over the large forest.

"Your a fucking asshole Roy, people live down there!" Yelled Sergeant Chris as she walked towards the group of marine onlookers as the fire dragon continued to belch out its load of flame, roaring angrily as it did.

"Ohhhhhhh you want to hold me Chris! I am shaking in my fucking boots here!" Roy shot back with a sly grin at the younger sergeant, but all it earned him was the butt of Chris's rifle being lodged into his back as he let out a loud grunt.

"Fuck off Roy!" Chris yelled.

Jason shook his head, before zooming in on the destruction as he watched, he would not order the men into this type of attack. They couldn't do anything about it with their weapons and such a large beast pissed off at whatever was down there in the elven town. But then Jason saw a marker that he never thought he would see again and through the dust and smoke that blocked his built in bino's from seeing clearly, he spotted the familiar shape of a Spartan in action and above him Jason's built in computer read the IFF tag and marked him as someone Jason knew.

"Carter." Jason muttered as he heard several shots from a M392 DMR go off.

 **Carter**

Carter picked up the man from the floor as he heard the roar overhead jumping into action the Spartan began making his way out of the generator room and into the corridor of the broken ship, jumping over the holes in the floor as quickly as possible, before making his way towards the elevator his new charges hot on his heels as they made their way towards the elevator, the lift shrieking more as it took the extra weight of the four occupants as the elevator moved downwards, towards the place where he came in. As soon as the door opens, Carter is out and running down the hallway the marines pounding the metal as fast as they can behind Carter as he ran towards the hole he had come in from.

Carter burst out back into the low light of the now setting sun as he looked up and watched a massive beast, looking creature with bright red scales and a rather angry looking face, with one wooden arrow sticking out of it's eye as well as some cracks in it's armor from a fight as it flew low over the wreckage of the frigate and towards the village Carter had walked from. "Hodor and Tuka." Muttered Carter as he took off sprinting towards the village, his boots kicking up the grass and dirt as the marines yelled at him in english but refused to follow. **"Good they can make sure no UNSC property get's stolen."** Thought Carter as he barreled to the edge of the clearing the frigate had crashed, barreling through the underbrush as he ran towards the elves village.

He hadn't know the elf family for long, but they had supplied him with vital information and that meant they were on Carter's good list of informants that he still needed to get information on this place. So he put getting them above his own safety as he jumped over a fallen log, the wood cracking under his weight, causing him to jump forwards onto the ground as the log split in half. But it didn't phase Carter as he kept pounding dirt with his feet, he began to hear the screams of civilians as he took out his DMR and began firing, attempting to distract the creature at least a little bit, but the bullets just bounce off, leaving his M37A on the magnetic holster on his back as he kept on running, his armor accelerating his speed tenfold as he jumped over a river and flitted through the tree's and bursting into the village through the underbrush as smoke began to form around him, thankfully his suit filters were still working as they filtered the smoke from the air and allowed him to breath. Carter looked around as the village burned around him, the screams of the civilians filtering into the speakers inside of his helmet as he looked around for Hodor's and Tuka's house. There was no way he could take down the giant beast now hovering above the village, spewing red hot flames down towards the village as the inhabitants let out terrified screams as they ran from the village, though some were still trapped in their houses as they burned around them.

" _DAD!"_ Carter heard a familiar voice yell from behind him, turning around with lighting fast reflexes he spotted Hodor his hand locked firmly on his daughter's arm as they ran from a stream of yellow flames. Carter ran towards the elf as fast as he could manage as the other man spotted him and began to slow slightly, even with the beast on his tail.

Quickly switching languages Carter began to speak. _"What the hell is that?"_ He asked as the two of them continued to run towards what looked like a well of some sort.

" _A fire dragon, apostle."_ Hodor answered as he kept running with his daughter close behind, the girl letting out another scream as they approached the well.

" _Dad?"_ The girl questioned as Hodor picked her up and threw her into the well, causing her to scream her dad's name as she fell down into the water below in the villages well, Carter nodding as he realized the man's plan for safety, but as Hodor prepared to get in a large bang and the snapping of trees could be heard from behind the two men as they turned around and were faced by the large dragon, it's teeth bared as it snarled at them.

Hodor looked at Carter with a determined look in his eye as he motioned towards Carter then towards the well, Carter wanted to shake his head and tell the man to get in himself but before he could the elf ran towards the dragon and began to distract the creature himself with arrows from his bow. Carter wanted to stop him and tell him to get into the well, but as he watched he saw the dragon lunge towards Hodor and then it was all over as it picked him up with one of it's paws and threw him into the forest. Not bothering to waste the precious time Hodor gave him, Carter jumped over the edge of the well and began a controlled fall down towards the bottom, narrowly avoiding Tuka as he heard the dragon began to belch another stream of flame and his internal thermometer begin to go up.

Thinking quickly as Carter looked up and watched as some flame began to travel downwards towards the pair as Tuka lay on her back unconscious in the water, Carter made a split decision and slammed his fist down a blue shield expanding from his armor.

 **So yeah no rory yet, but you know what happens in the next episode in the anime.**


	7. Chapter 7: Rory Mercury

**So I finished IS: Infinite Stratos and it goddamn sucked in my mind, horrible absolutely horrible the MC was a damn piece of wood at least the guy in birdemic got some. Also preparing to watch Steins Gate for the first time, wish me luck as I plunge into the depths of anime and games in order to get ideas for more fanfictions I have planned for the future.**

 **If anyone has any other ideas feel free to give me a shout through pm.**

 **I listened to the entire Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3 soundtrack while writing this. AWESOME MUSIC.**

 **Cutter**

Captain Cutter stood on the bridge of the _Spirit Of Fire_ his hands clasped behind his back as the bridge crew worked around him, they were slower than normal but Cutter understood that after spending twenty years inside of cold storage would cause anyone to be a little sluggish for the first few days as they made their way towards the prowlers IFF signal and the strange object it seemed to be floating around. Thankfully they did not have anything that required their immediate full attention, such as covenant patrols that would have torn the _Spirit Of Fire_ apart in an instant while in her condition.

But they had yet to run into any covenant, or any life at all really other than the object and the IFF signal of the prowler. They were about an hour away from the signal but they still had not made visual contact with the ONI ship, they only had the sensor scans to go by and the IFF signal as they moved along at sublight. The ship's engines letting out a low hum as they pushed the ship along with as much power as they could manage without shutting down critical systems, Cutter took the cup of coffee that had been sitting on the little tray on the arm of his chair, sipping the hot liquid as he continued to watch the bridge crew as they monitored the ship and the space around it for any covenant or unknown activity.

"Captain." A female voice said from the railing behind Cutter as he stood up and turned around to face the person.

."Professor Anders. What do you need?" Cutter asked curious why the notoriously work crazy ONI agent and professor had left her lab when she still had work to do, analyzing the samples they had taken from the shield world before it exploded.

"I think I found something." She said motioning for the captain to follow as she made her way off the bridge with Cutter in close tow as he raised his eyebrow as he saw the worry in her eyes as they walked off the bridge, the marine guards saluting as they passed by the guards and through the bridge door.

Anders was dressed in a UNSC jumpsuit that she had borrowed without the armor attached and a pair of black combat boots that thumped against the floor softly as they made their way to the observation deck that lie just a few meters from the bridge as Cutter took of his hat and combed his greying hair with his fingers, before putting the black officer's cap back onto his head as the two of them turned left into the observation deck. "I still don't understand why you still require my observation deck as your lab professor, there is nothing but blackness with nothing to look at right now." Cutter commented as he looked down through the glass, normally this observation deck would be nothing but a liability in a fight and when the _Spirit Of Fire_ was retrofitted it would have been replaced with armor.

But thankfully when Cutter was selected to captain the ship, he managed to convince the UNSC engineers to keep the deck as is and install some armored shutters that would cover the windows with an inch of titanium that would help protect the room from covenant fire, though it would not hold up if the covenant ships decided to direct all their plasma fire at the point. But still it provided a great view of the stars which he sorely missed since the professor took it over.

"I enjoy the silence of space as much as enjoy looking at planets Cutter, the silence helps me work." Anders shot back with a slight smirk as Cutter shook his head slightly at the answer.

"So what was it you wanted to show me?" Asked Cutter slightly annoyed as they stopped at the holographic monitor that was Anders computer, wires were strewn across the floor in a confusing spider web of connections to large monitors and computers as they processed everything Anders needed as she brought up something on screen.

"On a hunch I began scanning for any transmissions hidden in the background radiation of space that could have degraded over time and well, look at this." She said as an image of two audio waves appeared on the monitor in front of Cutter.

"What am I looking at professor?" Cutter asked as he looked at the pictures, both of them looking almost nearly identical as Cutter looked at them.

Anders shook her head before speaking with an exasperated sigh. "The first wavelength is the scan I took of the frequencies coming out of the shield world when we first arrived." She explained, folding her arms as Cutter nodded. "Now I then analyzed the frequencies our object was letting out, it was difficult but I managed to pick up the other one from the background and I found that they were exactly the same."

Cutter raised his eyebrow, his fists clenching slightly as he heard Anders report. If it was true then that would mean the race that created the shield planet also created this object and he if he had been a better man he would have put money on the flood being present in the station as well. "Serina." Cutter called to the A.I. who was no doubt listening in, his voice as calm as he could manage given the news Anders had just told him as the _Spirit Of Fire's_ A.I.came in over the loudspeaker.

"Yes captain?" The A.I. asked.

"Put the ship on full alert. Launch two squadrons of longswords, I want deep scans of the object and a report of any unknown activity around it, search for covenant ship silhouettes." Cutter ordered as he walked out of the observation room turned lab as Anders followed close behind, alarms sounding throughout the ship as the crew of the _Spirit Of Fire_ was put on full alert as yellow lights flashed through the hallways.

"You know in we are in no condition to face the covenant or the flood if we find them." Anders said as she walked close behind Cutter as several marine fireteams passed by as they ran towards the armory, a few of them were still strapping their armor on as they made their way towards one of the ships armories. Cutter continued on to the bridge as the alarms continued to echo throughout the ship, the sound of the _Spirit Of Fire's_ point defense cannons being loaded with their fifty millimeter ammo could be felt through the ship's floor as Cutter passed through the bridge door and walked back onto the bridge. The atmosphere of the bridge had completely changed, once the crew had heard the alarm the tired atmosphere was soon replaced with a frantic and determined one as the crew on the bridge began to coordinate with the rest of the crew on the other decks of the ship.

Cutter clasped his hands behind his back as he stood in front of his captains chair, looking through the thick glass of the ship's bridge as the ship approached the object. The first thing to come into view was the ONI prowler, the sahara-class heavy prowler was drifting through space it's engines were powered down as it floated through space. "Captain, I'm receiving a weak transmission, it appears to be coming from the prowler." Serina reported as she appeared on the holotube behind Cutter.

"What? Why weren't we receiving it before?" Cutter asked, prowlers were equipped with high intensity transmitters that reached farther than most ship based UNSC transmitters, it was so the prowler could report back to the fleet or planet it was assigned to without having to jump out of the system it was currently scouting, to have a transmission be so weak coming from a prowler was almost unheard of.

"It's not coming from the main transmitter sir, it appears to be coming from the pelican inside of the prowler's hangar bay." Serina reported as Cutter looked at her confused, if the crew was using the pelican to transmit then there had to be something going on here that had downed their transmitter.

"Let's hear it." Cutter ordered as he turned back to the monitor as a loud crackle came over the loudspeaker.

 _Bzzzzzzzt!_

Then suddenly a voice could be heard panting as it began to speak. "T-this i-is ONI r-r-recon two two five, we…..we found an object after a blind jump from Algolis, w-we were hit by a covenant corvette as we jumped and knocked off course." The voice said before taking a large gulp of what Cutter assumed was water before continuing on with the report, the radio releasing a crackle of static as the ONI spook continued. "The….the object we found it's…..it's like nothing we have ever seen, energy readings spiked as soon as we got in system but disappeared after a little while." Cutter felt his eyebrow twitch as he listened, hoping to whatever god might be out there that the object was safe, but from the state the ONI spook was in as he spoke, Cutter assumed the worst.

"We spent a few….weeks studying it, but as we did it became clear that this was not made by humans or covenant very quickly, we attempted to jump out of the system to report to object back to the UNSC but our navigation systems are being jammed, the commander attempted to force a manual jump to get us out of the system but the slipspace drive just shut down." Cutter flinched again as he heard that, if the object was jamming and shutting down slipspace drives then acquiring the drive from the prowler would only be the first step in getting back home. They would need to find the range of the jamming before jumping and from what Cutter had seen from the technology present on the shield world, it would take a while before they reached the edge of the jamming area, months or years even.

The transmission continued as Cutter continued to try to think of a plan to get them out of here fast. "...Then the disease started." That caught Cutter's attention, they all knew what the man meant by disease and if the flood was present on the object or in the prowler then they would need to hightail it outta there as soon as they could. "...At first it just seemed like the stress of being so far away from home." The man continued on the radio. "A crewmember would start stressing out and acting erratically for a while, then we would bring them to the doc or throw them in the brig, then they would be fine."

"Then another crewmember would go crazy, disobey direct orders and start shouting a name, Hardy I think it was, they would tell the other crewmembers how we were all going to die here for their amusement then once we threw them into the brig they would be fine as well, it was like clockwork." Cutter raised an eyebrow, his mouth opened slightly in a gape as he heard the ONI man's report, this was not the flood and he knew it. The flood would have infected the prowler then tried to make it somewhere it could feed by disabling the jamming device holding the ship there and this crew member would not even be left alive.

"Then the systems began to fail one by one, first it was weapons, then stealth, next was the water purifier and then even small things like the doors and lights began to fail along with the life support." The man let out a cough over the radio, you could hear him cursing in the background as something fell. "I…...only have thirty seconds of air left, the rest of the crew is dead, all of them suffocated by Hardy, if anyone is hearing this then turn away or…...or….or….or Hardy will get you." The man said in a higher pitch as he began to laugh hysterically, you could hear objects being thrown as he laughed. "You're all going to die, like pigs and drown in your own blood AND THEN ONCE YOU ARE IN THE UNDERWORLD I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" The man said as a the slide from an M6G could be heard as it loaded a round into the chamber, than the sound of a gunshot could be heard echoing over the radio as the man shot himself in his insanity.

Cutter stood there for a full minute, processing what he had just heard as the bridge fell deathly silent, the only sound that could be heard was everyone's breathing as they stared at the monitor. "Serina get us out of here, I want the engines at maximum output." Cutter ordered as he continued staring at the screen, the ONI spooks last words echoing through his head. He didn't have long to think though as suddenly a crashing and wrenching noise could be heard, throughout the ship as a distinctively female voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Oh no you don't my new entertainment, I won't have you running away when we could have so much fun." The female voice said with a twinkling laugh as the entire crew seemed to turn pale.

"Captain Cutter, sir the engines are offline, systems are crashing left to right I'm trying to isolate whatever is doing this!." Serina reported her voice almost frantic as her avatar flickering slightly as the power throughout the _Spirit Of Fire_ began to fluctuate, lights were flickering and doors began to turn on and off as another laugh echoed throughout the ship, causing the hairs on the back of Cutter's neck to stand up as he looked around for the source of the childish laughter.

"Oh boy, I have a another toy full of people to cure my boredom, you and I are going to have so much fun together." A voice whispered into Cutter's ear as he turned around to face the source, but saw nothing as he stared at the metal wall of the bridge. "Your people are always so jumpy and quick to draw their weapons, it's almost as if you don't want to have any fun." The voice said with another echoing laugh. "Don't worry I am not going to slaughter all of you like I did the others who came, I have different plans for you people that will undoubtedly make my life much more interesting."

"Who are you?" Cutter called out to the voice, his own gruff voice filled with annoyance at the woman's antics. "Show yourself!"

"I am Hardy god of the underworld you disgusting male brute, do not speak to me like that again or I will rip you limb from limb and you will not be able to join in on the fun." The woman shot back in a much more threatening tone this time as the marines on the bridge searched everywhere for her weapons raised and ready to fire as they scanned each crevice. But they were still unable to find the source of the female voice as she continued to laugh.

"You and your toy soldiers will not find me because I am not here, now why don't you just sit still so we can get on with the fun." She said with another laugh as Cutter drew his sidearm, ready to fight should the intruder show herself.

"Cutter the object!" Yelled Anders as Cutter looked out the bridge winder at the long, straight looking object as it appeared to sprout a set of fins at the back of the thin looking rod, the hull glowing bright blue as it began to position its nose at the _Spirit Of Fire_. The nose of the object glowing blue as it collected some form of energy at the tip.

"What the hell is going on Serina?!" Cutter yelled as the bridge crew froze in shock, nearly everyone staring at the object as it pointed it's apparent weapon at them. Serina looked like she was going through hell trying to get the ships systems under control, her avatar flickering almost constantly as she held her head, reaching her max processing speed as whatever had infected the ship's systems.

"Serina?!" Cutter called again as he looked back at the A.I. seeing her in distress as she doubled over on her holotube, clutching the holographic representation of her belly as she let out a cry.

"Helm get us out of here." Cutter ordered, his voice full of panic as he just barely managed to keep his face calm for his crew.

"Captain!" Anders called as Cutter looked back at the bridge window as she did and what he saw horrified him, a blue beam was traveling towards them and the ONI prowler at a high rate of speed.

"Brace for impact!" Cutter yelled as he felt his muscles tense up as the beam drew closer and closer to the _Spirit Of Fire_.

"Hope you have fun." Called the Hardy woman as she let out another laugh.

The beam struck the _Spirit Of Fire_ and the ship began to shake violently as blue energy began to arc along its hull, the lights inside the ship shutting down as the ship's emergency shutdown systems began to try to deal with multiple overloads in major systems across the ship. Cutter felt the ship jerk violently again as several people were torn from their seats, falling on the ground in unconscious lumps as the ship shook. Cutter felt another violent shake rock the ship as it was engulfed in white light as Cutter felt his feet go out from under him, causing him to lose his balance as he fell back onto the hard metal floor of the ship's deck, hitting the back of his head as he felt darkness begin to consume his mind.

And with that the _Spirit Of Fire_ and the ONI prowler, disappeared from deep space, leaving only the object floating in it's original position.

 **Six (Jason-B312)**

Jason had jumped down the cliff, his feet skidding on the rock and mud, rain pelting his armor with water as he attempted to control his fall a bolt of lightning arcing through the black sky as he made his way down the cliff, the fire dragon had long since moved on, leaving a smoldering forest in it's wake. But right now Jason could care less about the smoldering ruins of the tree's as he took off across a clearing that lay between him and the forest, leaving the rest of the convoy to find their own way down as the Spartan admiral ran across the green grass. The green slowly turning to black and brown as he approached the smoldering logs and stumps of the forest the fire dragon had attacked for seemingly no reason, Jason could hear the large beast let out an angry roar from far away as another bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, hitting the ground nearby as Jason rushed through the broken tree's.

A collapsing log nearly hit him as Jason just narrowly avoided it by sidestepping, his boots sinking into the soft mud as he heard the sound of a group of warthogs approaching the forest as he ran through it, the rain still pattering on his titanium armor as he sprinted as fast as his augmented legs could carry him. Smaller fires still burned around him, letting out sizzles and pops as they were hit by the rain falling from the sky, steam wafted up from the hot tree trunks and ground as Jason made his way into the middle of what looked like a village, judging by the burnt stone and shaped wood that littered the area.

The IFF signal was growing stronger, causing Jason's locator to start pinging wildly as he walked around, weapon in hand incase the dragon wanted to come back for a second meal. As he walked through the village Jason could see several collapsed buildings. **"If each of the buildings had about three occupants each, that means about a hundred people died here."** Jason thought as he looked around, spotting a burnt hand in the mud as he heard the rest of the convoy come up behind him as he kept on looking for the source of the Spartan IFF signal as the rest of the squad dismounted from their vehicles as they spread out amongst the rubble looking for survivors.

"My god." Jason heard Lieutenant Itami mutter as the man held his MA37 tightly in his hands as he moved through the rubble with sergeant Roy covering his back as the two of them stepped over the leftover rubble from a house.

Jason was still looking for the signal as he moved through the village, the rain was falling even harder now, coating his visor before quickly evaporating due to the protective coating that prevented the rain from blurring his vision through the helmet. He heard crows and other scavenger birds begin to let out their shrieks as they circled over the destroyed village, waiting for Jason and the rest of the squad to leave so they could begin their feast of burnt flesh.

Then suddenly Jason heard the pings in his helmet turned into a solid high pitched tone as he passed by the village well, slowly stepping towards the well Jason held his rifle at the ready, incase anything jumped out at him as he moved towards the well, his boots making deep impressions in the mud as he stepped close to the well before turning on the spotlight, located near the muzzle of his weapon, the bright light illuminating the well as Jason looked down the dark hole.

Down in the hole he saw two prone forms in the water, one female with a slim build and blonde hair and next to her lay the commander Jason had followed till he had died sacrificing himself so Jason could complete his mission. There lay Carter his blue armor standing out in the water as he lay prone, face down on the ground of the shallow well. If it weren't for his helmet the Spartan would have most likely drown due to being face down in the water, but thankfully his self contained helmet kept him supplied with oxygen as Jason looked down at the two figures.

"Carter!" Jason called down to the other Spartan, his voice echoing as the sound bounced off the stone and dirt walls of the well. But the other Spartan did not respond as Jason called, instead the prone form of Carter just continued to lay in the water, unmoving.

"We have survivors! Sergeant Roy get the warthog over here and hand me the winch cable!" Jason ordered, his voice echoing over the comm as the rest of the squad began to converge on the well as Roy ran back to the warthog, quickly jumping into the vehicle as he turned on the engine. The warthogs engine letting out a low purr as he slowly drove it forward, the suspension bouncing a bit as it passed over debris before stopping in front of the well, cutting the engine and activating the heavy parking brake as Jason grabbed the hook, lowering it down the well, stopping once he heard the hook hit the water below. Grabbing onto the cable, Jason felt the cable tense up in his gauntleted hands as he began to rappel down into the hole, the rest of the squad shining their flashlights down into the hole, illuminating it so he could see more clearly as Jason slowly dropped into it.

Thankfully the cable was made to hold over two tons and Jason's one ton weight with his armor on was nothing to the thick metal cable as Jason made his way down the vertical wall, making sure to not loosen any rocks that could hit the two survivors and possibly injure them as he did. Finally reaching the ground below, Jason quickly checked the pulse of the female, his armor allowing him to feel for the pulse. He didn't have to feel for a pulse on Carter to know that the Spartan was alive, his armors systems did that automatically for him scanning the commander and interacting with his onboard computer which let him know whether or not the other Spartan was alive or not.

Thankfully the computer reported he was alive and unharmed, just knocked out cold currently. The female thankfully was also alive and well, likely she was just knocked out from the fall down the well. The water was lapping at her face and blonde hair as she lay in the water, her clothes soaked with her body most likely going into hypothermia from the cold as Jason looked her over. He then wrapped the hooked winch around Carter to pull him up, wrapping the wire around his torso in an 'X' shaped pattern so he wouldn't fall when the warthog winched him up.

"We have two survivors with a pulse down here one to winch up!" Jason called to the squad as one of the marines moved from the well to let Roy know to start the engine. Seconds later Jason heard the purr of the warthogs engine as it started up, the wire strained for a few seconds before finally pulling Carter up his limp body hanging there as the warthog slowly pulled him out of the well. As the other Spartan was pulled up Jason noticed a rather strange symbol carved into his chest plate that he knew for a fact was not there before and he never knew Carter to be one to customize his armor like that, Jason made a mental note to ask the other Spartan about the symbol once he woke back up.

Soon Carter was up and over the edge of the Well, breaking some of the carved stone as he passed over the well's stone wall and hit the ground with a thunk, Jason would never ask any of the marines to catch the Spartan, Carter was just to heavy for that with his armor on he would most likely crush all of them if they tried. The cable was untied from Carter's body and thrown back down the well, narrowly hitting Jason's helmet as he picked up the girl, that was when he noticed her ears. They had been covered up before by her long hair but now as he hefted her smaller body they were in plain view for him to see, Jason did a double take when he saw them. Whoever this girl was she was not human that was could clearly be seen from her ears, that made him feel slightly more wary of her given humanities other interactions with non-humans but if Carter had trusted her enough to save her from a grizzly death then she must've done something to help the Spartan and if Carter had trusted her then Jason felt no reason not to trust her, but it didn't mean he couldn't be wary.

Jason hefted her over his shoulder and tugged on the rope, letting the squad up top know he was ready to come up. He heard the warthog begin to back up and pull him up out of the well, the wire straining from the weight of both Jason and the girl but not breaking as the two of them were pulled up. Jason and the girl were soon up and out of the well, Jason's armor dripping with water as sergeant Chris checked on the girl and began stripping her of her wet clothing before putting a rather large shirt on her before wrapping a wool blanket around the girl to stabilize her core temperature to a more normal level as they set her on the floor of the cab of the troop transport warthog along with Carter, Chris jumping in behind the two of them before shutting the door to the cab.

"Sir I got another IFF beacon nearby." Sergeant Roy reported as he looked down at his tacpad, fiddling with the device before marking a point that appeared on Jason's hud. "They are marine IFF transponders that appear to be coming from several klicks north of here."

Jason nodded at this point in time after seeing Carter lying in that well, after he saw the other Spartan die on Reach when he crashed into the scarab to make sure Jason and Emile made it to the _Pillar Of Autumn_ , right now he was ready to believe just about anything this strange world threw at him. "Alright sergeant, let's go save some marines." Jason said as he took his MA37 off his back as the squad began to mount up, the warthog bouncing a bit as Jason stepped up into the passenger seat. The weight of his heavy armor causing his suspension to lower a little bit as Itami got back onto the gunner position holding onto the large tiggers as he began scanning the sky with the gauss hogs M68 gauss cannon, looking for the fire dragon as they began working their way slowly towards the signal.

Sergeant Chris continued to monitor the two patients as the convoy made its way slowly towards the new signal, the wheels of the warthogs sinking into the mud as the three vehicles broke large branches they passed over as they made their way slowly and methodically through the destroyed village, still looking around for any more survivors though the odds of finding anyone else alive in the village were dwindling by the second as the marines and Jason looked over the collapsed houses and other buildings that littered the now burnt forest.

Jason felt something in his chest drop as he looked at the complete devastation he was witnessing right in front of him as they passed by the broken remains of women with their children clutched tightly in their arms, even in death they were willing to protect their children from anything that would disturb their peaceful sleep. The destruction around him reminded Jason of something, something he had buried in his heart a long time ago, letting the memories disappear from his conscious mind so he could focus on his position as a Spartan, but now as he witness the men, women and children burned alive here as they attempted to flee their homes he felt memories from a time long gone come rushing back, the memories of his mother and father lying in pools of blood as the world around him came crashing down around him, but he refused to allow those memories to effect him. He knew he had a job to do as a Spartan and the commander of the forces here, if any personal memories got in the way then he was not doing his job properly.

The convoy continued to move through the forest as quietly as humanly possible with their vehicles as they passed over the soft, wet mud the warthogs sinking in slightly, leaving deep tracks behind the convoy that could be easily followed by any fool with two eyes. Then it came into view, a massive UNSC Charon-class frigate lay on the far end of a clearing, looking as if it were put through a meat grinder, then eaten and spat out. Hull breaches littered the hull were covenant plasma torpedoes had hit the ship before it had crashed. titanium armor plates littered the clearing as the convoy drove on through, the gunners keeping the heavy weapons on the backs of the vehicles on a swivel as they looked around for any contacts thinking about taking UNSC property.

Jason heard Sergeant Roy whistle as he saw the wreckage of the ship. "I don't think many would have survived that." he commented as he he turned the warthogs steering wheel, coming up along side the wreckage as Jason dismounted once again, his weapon at the ready incase any covenant came rushing out. This was always a problem when investigating crashed UNSC ships, sometimes the covenant forces that had boarded didn't get out in time before the ship crashed and when the UNSC sent in ships to check for survivors they would get blindsided by a few squads of covenant who were still aboard when the ship crashed.

Jason spotted a hole in the bottom section of the MAC cannon that ran along the nose of the vessel, to get in a check for survivors as he moved towards the ship with Itami and Roy backing him up as the rest of the squad stayed with the vehicles. The two marines turned on the spot lamps on their weapons as they moved into the ship through the large gash.

"IFF tags are somewhere around here." Sergeant Roy reported as he clipped his tacpad back onto his belt, the device jingling a bit as they began to search room to room for the marines. Thankfully most of the rooms below the ship's MAC gun were made for the storage of parts for the ship with very few places to hide as they made their way through the long hallway that ran through the nose section of the ship.

As they approached the last storage room, Jason heard the sound of heavy breathing with his augmented ears as they approached the door. Not willing to take any chances the Spartan III motioned to the two marines behind him to take positions by the door for a breaching maneuver. Itami and Roy leaned against the metal walls near the door as Jason approached it, raising his boot as he prepared to kick the door down and surprise the people on the other side of the door, if they were covenant aliens then they would be dealt with accordingly.

Jason delivered a mighty kick to the door of the storage room, the metal of the door letting out a loud screech as it bent slightly under the weight of his kick. Jason heard a woman scream as he delivered another kick to the door, the metal letting out another screech as he kicked it again, the doors bending inwards as the metal failed to resist the full strength of the Spartans foot. Jason delivered another kick to the door, causing the door to let out a louder shriek as the metal double doors bent backwards into the room, allowing Jason and the marines to storm the room. Weapons raised and fingers on the triggers of their rifles as they looked for hostiles in the room, but thankfully all they saw were a few shocked marines that stared at Jason and the two marines as they stormed the room.

The two men and two women were obviously shell shocked as Jason looked at them, their eyes filled with fear as they clutched their weapons for protection. A few of them were muttered prayers in what sounded like hungarian as Jason lowered his weapon, motioning for Roy and Itami to do the same. The marines were covered in wounds from the crash, scrapes and bruises littering their bodies, Jason slowly set down his rifle as he approached one extremely frightened female marine as she attempted to move backwards towards the corner of the storage room they had been hiding in.

She attempted to raise her weapon as Jason moved forwards, stopping as he watched her raise the M392 DMR she had clutched in her hands, Jason raised his hands to show that he meant no harm as the woman pointed her weapon at him, Itami and Roy not moving an inch as the hysterical woman held the weapon with shaking hands as some tears fell down her face. "What's your name marine?" Jason asked as he looked over the female, searching for an opening to strike and disarm the women as he spoke in as calm a voice as he could manage.

"Sergeant First-class Mari Kurokawa….ID number four….five….three…...two…..two…..whiskey…...echo…..charlie" Mari stuttered out the last part as she shook in fear, still clutching her weapon as she pointed it at Jason her red eyes staring into his golden visor as he slowly stepped towards her.

"Alright Sergeant, I want you to lower your weapon, you're safe now." Jason replied in a calm voice as he stopped moving for a moment, gauging her reaction as he looked at her through his visor. He didn't want to kill this marine and if there was a god out there, he or she would know that the UNSC forces they had required more manpower, even training the civilians they had saved would not produce the numbers they would need if the covenant attacked, but if this woman fired her weapon at him…..well Jason knew what he would have to do if he could not disarm her safely.

"I….I…...I can't, I….I don't want to go back….I can't fight the covenant anymore." The woman stuttered, her face and eyes beat red as she clutched her weapon ever harder, her finger moving towards the trigger as Jason prepared to perform a disarming move.

"The covenant isn't on this planet Sergeant, you're safe and if you just come with us we can get you some medical treatment." Jason said still keeping his calm voice before quickly reaching out and grabbing the DMR from the frightened marine as she let out a scream, managing to pull the trigger before Jason could fully take control of the weapon.

Thankfully the bullet missed Jason's head by an inch, whizzing past him and embedding itself into the titanium wall behind him as he pushed Kurokawa back onto the ground as Roy and Itami grabbed and restrained her as she began to scream. "I don't want to fight anymore…...I don't want to!" She yelled as she attempted to wiggle out of the grip the two larger marines had on her as Itami took out a small needle as he rolled up the sleeve of the terrified sergeant and injected her with some morphine to calm her down.

She struggled for a few more minutes before the drug began to take effect, Kurokawa slowly began to calm down as the two marines on top of her slowly began to loosen their grip on the combat medic as she relaxed on the floor, her eyes drooping a little as the morphine sedated and clouded her mind. "Get her out of here." Ordered Jason as he looked over at the other soldiers in the squad they had found in the crashed frigate.

"Let's get you people out of here." Jason muttered as he motioned for the marines to follow and they did so in complete silence.

 **A few minutes later**

Jason felt the warthog shift slightly under him as they passed over a pothole in the road outside of the elven forest. They had locked down the crashed frigate once it became clear that they could not recover it, still Jason had other plans for the frigate that he could use later if needed. While it could never again be used for space combat or any form of combat really, the charon-class frigate still contained valuable supplies they needed to strengthen their forces on this strange planet they were stuck on for now, the ship could also be used as a sort of outpost for their operations in the imperials territory.

But that would have to be put in the back of the priority list for now as they drove towards coda village to warn them about the dragon attack on the forest the elves had been living in, the warthogs engine letting out a louder whine as Roy hit the gas on the vehicle, kicking up dust and rocks behind them as they attempted to get to the village as soon as they could. The Carter and the elf they had rescued were currently in the cabin of the troop transport warthog, along with Kurokawa who was still woozy from the shot of morphine she was given to calm her down as they passed over another pot hole.

Jason spotted Coda village in the distance as they continued along the road, as Chris continued to monitor their patients as the warthogs continued down the beaten path, the villagers that heard the vehicles approaching emerging from their homes as the UNSC recon squad drove into the center of the village as Jason stood up and got on the loudspeaker, raising the volume so all could hear. _"People of Coda village, a fire dragon has attacked the elf village within the forest and we have reason to believe that your village may be next."_ Jason said as the villagers began to gather around the parked vehicles, their faces transforming into terrified expressions as Jason turned off the loud speaker.

" _What are you talking about?"_

" _Was that the smoke we saw coming down wind?"_

" _Did you anger the dragon, what were you thinking!?"_

Questions began flooding in as the civilians around them began to panic and jump to conclusions. **"Guess civilians never change, no matter where you are."** Thought Jason as he jumped down from the warthog, the villagers backing up as the squad began to dismount and spread out to secure the area around the vehicles incase any of the villagers got any ideas, while they had been completely cooperative before Jason was not taking any chances at the moment with the fire dragon putting them all on edge, if they blamed the UNSC forces for awaking the beast and causing the destruction of the elven village then that would throw a wrench in his plans for overthrowing this little empire that ruled over this part of the planet.

" _I need to speak to your village elder."_ Jason explained as he stood in the center of the mass of villagers, his height allowing him to stand out amongst the crowd as his helmets loudspeakers spoke in the villagers strange language.

" _He is in his house."_ One villager replied as he pointed to single wooden house that lay atop a small hill with a dirt path leading to the front door. Jason nodded as he began to make his way through the crowd of frightened primitive villagers, each and every one of them looked upon the Spartan-III with a frightened expression as Jason made his way towards the village elder's house, the squad of marines staying behind in an attempt to calm to small villages populace as panic would only cause confusion as well as possible injury if everyone began to try to escape at once.

Walking up the dirt path Jason made his way into the simple wooden house. The house itself was unremarkable and honestly looked no different than any other house in the village, compared to the massive structures that the UNSC had constructed on Earth, Reach and humanities many other colonies the houses were puny. But they served a purpose and Jason understood that, out here in the middle of nowhere it was a constant struggle to survive, especially for a branch of humanity that did not appear to have even the most simple rifled fire arm at the moment. And the houses reflected that as Jason walked up to the flimsy wooden door of the house, his mind instantly going into breaching mode as he examined the door.

The door looked like it could be kicked in with a minimum amount of force should the village elder refuse to open up for whatever reason. Jason shook his head, forcing his thoughts to refocus on the task at hand as he reached out with his armored hand and knocked on the door of the small dwelling. He heard the rustling of feet behind the door, followed by a crash as someone began cursing as the door was opened for Jason. _"Ah, Noble six. Correct?"_ The village elder asked as he looked up at the large super soldier standing in front of him.

" _Yes sir,"_ Jason replied with a nod of his helmet as the elderly man stepped out of the way, inviting the Spartan commander inside.

" _Please come in, I'm sure you have something to tell me if you have come back to our village so quickly after departing."_ The elder said knowingly as Jason stepped inside, ducking his head under the small doorway as the wooden floor of the house creaked under his weight. He spotted another elderly man sitting on a couch near a small window overlooking the forest that lay behind the village a rather large bruise lying upon his leg as he held a book upon his lap, he nodded at Jason as if sensing the Spartan was watching him through his polarized visor as the village elder took a seat in a wooden chair that lay opposite to the couch.

The elderly man let out a small cough before speaking in a low tone. _"This is Cato El Altestan, our village sage and resident expert on the many creatures that inhabit this land."_ The elder explained as Jason looked over at the sage once again, giving him a respectful nod before speaking.

" _A pleasure to meet you, I am Noble Six commander of the forces that are currently occupying Alnus hill."_ Jason said with a slight bow.

" _A pleasure to meet you as well. But what kind of name is Noble Six if I may inquire?"_ Cato asked as he held the book his his lap with both hands as he repositioned himself on the couch.

" _It was given to me by my military when I joined, I unfortunately cannot use my real name as it is a closely guarded secret of my people."_ Jason explained as the older man nodded.

" _I understand. then may I just call you Six for short?"_ Cato asked as Jason nodded in response.

" _Very well then Six. As you may have seen at the elven there is a fire dragon on the loose in our lands, wreaking havoc on any village it comes across."_ Cato explained as he opened the brown leather book on his lap to a very specific page, which surprised Jason as he had not seen anything marking the page before the book was opened. _"This dragon appears to have tasted human and elf blood, which places this village in a very difficult situation that we must deal with as soon as possible."_ The older man said as he looked down at the book.

" _This dragon species is known for it's high aggression and ability to grow as large as some of the largest buildings in the empire and once they taste the blood of humans or elves they will not stop in their blood rampage until their lust for flesh is sated."_

" _So how can we beat it?"_ Asked Jason as he looked at the man. Jason began to think over a plan in his head as he spoke, a MAC gun or a high concentration of high explosives would most likely stop the beast in its tracks, they only problem was that they needed to get the beast to stay still in order to get a shot off.

" _Only with a high amount of magical energy can the dragon be defeated and since I know of no source of such energy within this world, we unfortunately cannot even hope to defeat the beast, especially with the villagers around."_ Cato explained as Jason nodded once again, the villagers safety would have to take precedence over defeating the beast for now as Jason stood there hands clasped behind his back as he continued to listen to the older men as they continued to speak with each other.

" _No…..no the only thing we can do now is run as far and as fast as possible until we are far enough away from this place." Cato said as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "We will need to evacuate the villagers from here and I would suggest you do the same Six, the fire dragon is most likely on it's way right now."_ He said solemnly as he looked at the village elder with sad eyes as the other man nodded.

" _My troops and I stand ready to help in any way we can."_ Jason said plainly as he looked at the village elder. _"We will escort you wherever you need to, until you are in a safe zone."_ Jason explained as he looked at the two shocked men as he continued speaking. _"We will cover your escape and trust me you will need our weapons if you want to get out alive."_

The two men gaped for a minute before regaining their voices. _"We could never ask that of you, it would be putting you in harms way against a creature you only fought once before."_ The elder sputtered as Jason nodded.

" _That is why we wish to gather more information on this fire dragon and the way it fights, so we can defeat it in the future. I am suggesting a plan that could benefit us both if you accept."_

The elder thought for a minute as Jason stood rock still, silent as he allowed the man to think over the Spartans plan in his head. _"Very well Six, I will tell the villagers and explain what we must do. If you will explain the plan to your men."_

And with that Jason bowed before leaving the two men in the house to discuss the plan amongst themselves as he walked out of the house and down the dirt path towards the center of the village where the warthogs were currently parked at the moment. The village elder was not far behind as he came out, his stride full of purpose as he strolled towards the amassed villagers as they waited for his guidance. Jason made his way through the crowd of people as they spread out around him to give him room to walk towards the marines, the men saluting as he managed to make his way towards the convoy. "What's the situation sir?" Asked lieutenant Itami with a hint of determination in his voice as he looked upon his Spartan commander.

"We have a new mission Lieutenant, we are to evacuate the civilians in Coda village to a safer location and defend them if the fire dragon decides to show up." Jason explained, his expression hidden by his visor as he looked upon the men under his command as Itami nodded with another short salute before moving towards the rest of the squad to explain the plan of action as Jason walked over to the cab of the troop transport warthog, opening the titanium door of the cab as he looked over the two bodies lying inside, a laptop on a chair next to them as it monitored their vital signs. "You are going to be home soon Carter." Jason muttered as he heard the villagers begin to before closing the door and walking to the lead vehicle once again.

"Alright marines, let's get the civilians loaded up and ready to roll." He yelled as the marines shouted back.

"Yes sir!." They collectively replied as they began to spread out through the village and help the panicked populace of the village began loading their belongings and food supplies on some rickety looking carts as Jason watched, overseeing the evacuation via the comm as he watched the carts begin to line up near the entrance of the village. He could hear children crying and even a few adults letting out some sobs as they were forced to leave their homes for good. While Jason had not had a permanent home for some time due to his position in the UNSC and the fact that his original home had long since been destroyed in the covenant invasion of his home colony, Jason still felt sorry for the civilians. It was the same pity he felt for UNSC civilians when the covenant attacked a colony, these people had never been in this sort of situation before. Thus they did not have any way of dealing with a threat such as a dragon, as such they would be more prone to panicking then the UNSC marines or even the civilians who had been in this sort of situation before, so he could not blame them for panicking so much as Jason watched them quickly load their belongings on their carts.

Suddenly Jason heard a horse cry from the line of carts and a loud crash echoed through the village as a cloud of dust appeared near the front of the group of carts, followed by the yelling of civilians and marines alike as Jason spotted sergeant Frederick and Roy run towards the front of the line of horse drawn carts. "Come on marines, evacuating civilians is part of your job and I want this done quick and clean." Yelled sergeant Frederick to the rest of the squad as they began to asses the damage up front. Jason began making his way through the lines of carts as he heard more civilians scream and panic as he heard another horse cry.

Jason spotted the problem up front as he broke into a light jog, the axle of one of the carts had broken clean in half and fallen over on its side. He spotted two adults laying on the ground stunned along with a smaller child who was breathing heavily as Jason ran towards the little girl, getting down on one knee as he disconnected his gauntlet from the rest of his armor as he began to check the girls vitals. "Hmmmmmm possible concussion…..maybe a fractured skull." Jason muttered as he looked down at the girl as she continued to breath, letting him know that she was still capable of at least that.

He heard the sound of someone yelling as he checked over the small girl as he saw a shadow in the corner of his eye, spotting a young girl with blue hair running towards Jason in what looked to be thick robes as the horse in front of Jason began to neigh and buck around as the marines and villagers attempted to calm it, but it did not seem to be working as the horse continued to buck around as Jason watched the small blue haired girl take up a position near him as she looked down at the child. _"Excuse me ma'am I need you to get back."_ Jason explained as he looked down at the girl, but she did not move as he heard the frightened horse let out another cry as it raised its front hooves up high as was about to slam them down right were the blue haired girl was sitting. Acting quickly Jason grabbed the girl by her sleeve as he moved in front of her and the smaller injured girl as the horse brought it's hooves down with as it let out another cry, hitting Jason square in the back as his shields flared and blocked most of the kinetic energy from the blow.

He couldn't help but grunt as he felt some of the energy not blocked by his shields hit him square in the back as he looked at the blue haired girl and watched her gasp as he turned around. Unhooking the sidearm from the magnetic holster on his hip, gripping the weapon in his hand as he fired at the raging horse, hitting it square in the head as the high explosive rounds killed the beast almost instantly as it fell over and hit the ground in a heap. before turning back to the girl as she stared at him almost dumbfounded as he picked her up and set her on a nearby crate with two other marines before making his way back into the fray of the villagers as they attempted to clean up the mess the cart had made with a warthog so the other carts could pass through without a problem. **"We need to get out of here as soon as possible."** Jason thought as he looked over the villagers. **"I just hope when we move out nothing else happens."**

"Sir?" A voice asked drawing Jason out of his thoughts as he looked around and spotted Lieutenant Itami standing at his side. "I was just talking with the village elder." Itami said with a grim voice as he looked directly at Jason.

"Apparently none of the lords of this region ever returned after they were sent by the imperials to fight at Alnus hill. If that is the case how long will we be taking care of these people?" Itami asked as Jason looked back over at the line of carts, letting out a low sigh that could only be heard inside of his helmet before speaking.

"Just until we determine they are safe Lieutenant. When that time comes we will send them on their way." Jason replied with a grim voice as Itami nodded before heading off to finish the final preparations before they moved out.

" **All we can do now is play it by ear."** Jason thought as he reattached his gauntlet and put his M6G back in it's magnetic holster on the side of his armors, hip.

 **Hour Later - Someone named Rory**

The sun was slowly setting over a horizon of rocky cliffs and hills as a group of men sat around a blazing fire talking amongst themselves as they ate and prepared to go to sleep for the night, some were dressed in simple clothing, while others had bits of tattered armor and broken helmets adorning their features as they spoke amongst one another, not spotting a figure watching them from above as they laughed amongst each other.

" _Apparently the entire village of Coda is on the run right now."_ One man said with a grin as he looked at his comrades, showing off his disgusting teeth as he leaned back allowing the conversation to break out.

" _This is a good opportunity."_ One of the other men who was wearing a red bandana replied with the same sadistic grin as he looked over at the first man whom simply nodded at the reply.

Another man on the other side of the blazing fire leaned forwards before asking. _"Do we have enough men?"_ He asked with a sceptical tone as the other men nodded and looked at him.

" _We can just find more, there are plenty of stragglers from the recent battle at Alnus left that are looking for work."_ The second man with the red bandanna replied as he looked around the fire pit. _"If we round them up, we could take the villagers on without a problem."_ He explained still somehow managing to hold his grin as he did. _"And not just a village, but maybe an entire town."_ he added.

" _We could overthrow the local lord."_ One man suggested with an excited look in his eye.

The man with the bandana grinned and laughed. _"From bandit leader to a lord…...hehe I like it."_ As soon as he said this a figure seemed to just appear out of nowhere behind the bandit leader as the sound of metal cutting through flesh echoed through the air of the small camp as the man fell over on his side, his eyes wide open as he bled from his back leaving several very shocked men staring at the newly made corpse.

The sound of a young girl giggling could be heard as a shadowing figure stepped into the light, revealing what appeared to be a small girl in a black dress and stockings, carrying a rather large axe with a sadistic expression plastered on her face as she spoke to the bandits. _"Gentlemen."_ She said with a giggle as she held out the blood axe for all to see, the fresh blood still dripping from the blade as she smiled at the men.

The girl took another step forwards as she continued to speak, the happiness clear in her voice as she did. _"Thank you for tonight."_ She said as she licked her lips, before an even larger grin appeared on her face as she raised her bloody axe. _"Thank you very much for….. giving your lives so selflessly"_

She began to walk forwards as she brought down the large axe, carving one bandit's chest open with the massive weapon as she continued speaking with a calm voice, her red boots crunching against the ground as she did. _"The all father is very pleased with your actions and he now requests your presence."_ The girl said as she swung the axe two more times, slicing through the flesh of two more bandits like knives through butter as she smiled, her black hair flowing through the night wind as she continued on her slow rampage of the bandit camp.

" _I am Rory Mercury."_ She said as she regained her balance from one particularly hard swing with her axe, leaving another man dead were he stood as he let out his last gasp of breath, the other men still in shock as they attempted to slowly back away from the killer little girl. _"Apostle of the dark god Emory."_ She said as she twirled her massive weapon around her head before slamming the pointed hilt into the ground as if to emphasize the point she was trying to make.

" _She is one of the twelve apostles, death god Rory."_ One man said in a panic as he stood their arms out and frozen solid in fear as he looked upon the smaller woman. "She's….she's wearing the Emoly shrine oracle uniform!"

"Run!" another man said as the bandits began sprinting off, attempting to get away from Rory and her large axe.

But this only caused Rory to grin more as she muttered to herself. _"I don't think so."_ She said as her feet lifted from the ground as she began her dance of death that she had practiced so many times before. Sprinting around the men with acrobatic speed as she swung her axe, laughing as the weapon embedded itself into the back of a running man. The smell of blood intoxicating her as she used the hilt of the weapon to throw large stones at high speeds at the bandits heads, crushing three of their skulls with bone wrending cracks as she let out a small seductive moan, before laughing in her high pitched voice and throwing her axe in the middle of a group of fleeing bandits.

The ground exploding around the men as they were sent flying off in every direction, their bodies now limp from the force of the blow as she jumped into the air and flipped with another giggle before grabbing the hilt of her weapon as she landed and pulled the massive, heavy axe from the ground. Looking down at one younger bandit who stumbled as he looked upon Rory with the fear of death deep within his eyes before bringing her raised axe down, striking him square in the chest as she blow forced his body to the ground as it killed him, sending out a cloud of dust as Rory let out another high pitched laugh.

Now all she needed to do was find the villagers of Coda and discover why they were evacuating.

 **Probably not the best chapter in the world, but I worked as hard as I could to deliver this to you and I hope you guys like it for what it is.**

 **Also what do you think Rory's reaction will be to Carter's new apostle status in this new world.**


End file.
